of that afternoon. She sat in class and she lay in bed, reliving the scene on the sofa in Claudia’sliving room. She was outraged. And in a strange way she was angry, too, at Elena.…
“Do you want to fly to Florida over Memorial weekend?” Dad asked one evening. He hesitated; the words came hard to him. “Your mother wants to talk to you about herself and me, about your feelings.”
“She can come here.”
“She thinks it would be good for the two of you to be alone.”
But Mama should be here, at home, in this house. She should have been here before this thing happened; then probably it wouldn’t have happened.
“I’m not going,” Charlotte said. “You can tell her.”
There was a silence.
There were many silences now. Dad at mealtimes, becoming aware of one, would turn from the distance into which he had absently been gazing to ask Charlotte what had happened in school that day. She knew that he was doing it for her sake. His mind was filled with his own worries: down by the river, the vacant building that was draining his pocketbook, and most of all the vacant chair at the opposite end of the table.
What if he knew what had happened to her. He must never know.… Her hand shook, spilling half a glass of milk.
SIX
“W e signed a lease today,” Cliff told Claudia one evening after dinner.
“Well, that should be a relief,” she said.
“I don’t know. I hoped so much that we could sell the place and get it off our hands. Bill worked hard over two deals that looked promising, but no use. This last one almost went through, but then their engineers told them we were too close to the river. One big flood, they said, and we’d slide right into it. Good Lord, the building’s been standing since 1910, and the river’s never flooded yet. It was probably just an excuse to back out because they weren’t able to come up with the money.”
“Who are these tenants?” Claudia asked, seeing that he was to some extent troubled and needed to talk.
“They’re a big company that does waste disposal—stuff left after demolitions, for instance. They sayit’s a clean recycling process. I hope so.” Cliff frowned. “Bill has some idea in the back of his head that this firm isn’t exactly first class, but we’ve had no other offers in two years. We have no choice.”
“Why, what does he think?”
“Thinks maybe they’re a front for somebody, or might have some mob connections in the Midwest. I don’t know. But Bill tends to be suspicious. Our lawyers told us to go ahead, so I’m not going to worry. And the income’s mighty welcome. We’re not used to penny-pinching, either of us.”
Claudia smiled at these brothers’ definition of
penny-pinching
. Still, after a lifetime of comfortable living and famously generous giving, it must be very painful to retrench.
“What are you men going to do with all your time now?” she asked.
“Bill’s going to stay with the Environmental Commission. They want to make him director, he says. That’ll mean a salary and I can keep teaching a couple of courses at the business college. We’ll manage. I’ll still be able to spend enough time on my book too. The history of textiles is really the history of civilization, you know.”
“I have to get you a better desk lamp,” she said, “a three-way with a green shade.”
She wondered how long it would take her to become used to all this comfortable domesticity. Perhaps she never would. It was just as well, though, not to take any good things for granted; in this uncertain world they were rather to be savored, every single day to be treasured, every hour like this one, the twoof them in peace on the cool side porch with their after-dinner coffee in a beautiful pewter pot.
“Where’s Ted gone? He rushed out of the house as if a bee had stung him.”
“You’re not used to boys, darling. Don’t you remember that when you were his age you only wanted to get out with your friends?”
“I think I spent
“Do you want to fly to Florida over Memorial weekend?” Dad asked one evening. He hesitated; the words came hard to him. “Your mother wants to talk to you about herself and me, about your feelings.”
“She can come here.”
“She thinks it would be good for the two of you to be alone.”
But Mama should be here, at home, in this house. She should have been here before this thing happened; then probably it wouldn’t have happened.
“I’m not going,” Charlotte said. “You can tell her.”
There was a silence.
There were many silences now. Dad at mealtimes, becoming aware of one, would turn from the distance into which he had absently been gazing to ask Charlotte what had happened in school that day. She knew that he was doing it for her sake. His mind was filled with his own worries: down by the river, the vacant building that was draining his pocketbook, and most of all the vacant chair at the opposite end of the table.
What if he knew what had happened to her. He must never know.… Her hand shook, spilling half a glass of milk.
SIX
“W e signed a lease today,” Cliff told Claudia one evening after dinner.
“Well, that should be a relief,” she said.
“I don’t know. I hoped so much that we could sell the place and get it off our hands. Bill worked hard over two deals that looked promising, but no use. This last one almost went through, but then their engineers told them we were too close to the river. One big flood, they said, and we’d slide right into it. Good Lord, the building’s been standing since 1910, and the river’s never flooded yet. It was probably just an excuse to back out because they weren’t able to come up with the money.”
“Who are these tenants?” Claudia asked, seeing that he was to some extent troubled and needed to talk.
“They’re a big company that does waste disposal—stuff left after demolitions, for instance. They sayit’s a clean recycling process. I hope so.” Cliff frowned. “Bill has some idea in the back of his head that this firm isn’t exactly first class, but we’ve had no other offers in two years. We have no choice.”
“Why, what does he think?”
“Thinks maybe they’re a front for somebody, or might have some mob connections in the Midwest. I don’t know. But Bill tends to be suspicious. Our lawyers told us to go ahead, so I’m not going to worry. And the income’s mighty welcome. We’re not used to penny-pinching, either of us.”
Claudia smiled at these brothers’ definition of
penny-pinching
. Still, after a lifetime of comfortable living and famously generous giving, it must be very painful to retrench.
“What are you men going to do with all your time now?” she asked.
“Bill’s going to stay with the Environmental Commission. They want to make him director, he says. That’ll mean a salary and I can keep teaching a couple of courses at the business college. We’ll manage. I’ll still be able to spend enough time on my book too. The history of textiles is really the history of civilization, you know.”
“I have to get you a better desk lamp,” she said, “a three-way with a green shade.”
She wondered how long it would take her to become used to all this comfortable domesticity. Perhaps she never would. It was just as well, though, not to take any good things for granted; in this uncertain world they were rather to be savored, every single day to be treasured, every hour like this one, the twoof them in peace on the cool side porch with their after-dinner coffee in a beautiful pewter pot.
“Where’s Ted gone? He rushed out of the house as if a bee had stung him.”
“You’re not used to boys, darling. Don’t you remember that when you were his age you only wanted to get out with your friends?”
“I think I spent
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