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world is poor? And then you think: and what kind of a world is
     it anyway? And you read people like Marx and that gets you thinking, and then you discover that political philosophy is just
     one aspect of a vast subject … Of course Daddy thinks I’m nuts. He thinks philosophy is just a hobby for social failures.
     He wants me to major in something useful, like Spanish, or feminine, like English literature.’
    I thought it was about time someone gave Cornelius credit where credit was due. ‘But he does agree that you should go to college.
     He’s not being entirely an ogre.’
    ‘He says he wants me to go to college, yes. But …’ She put down her fork and stared at her glass of wine. Finally she said:
     ‘Recently I’ve come to believe he’s changed his mind. I think he’s just stringing me along. That’s one of the reasons why
     I got so desperate. I think … Uncle Sam, please don’t laugh at me, I know it sounds crazy, but I think he’s going to try to
     pressure me into getting married.’
    I was acutely aware of my own fork poised in mid-air over my bowl of salad. Pulling myself together I speared a slice of cucumber.
    ‘Of course I want to get married,’ said Vicky hastily. ‘I want to be a wife and mother just like any other girl who’s not
     abnormal. But I want to go to college first before I settle down.’
    ‘Sure, I understand. What I don’t understand is why you should think your father wants to marry you off.’
    ‘I’ve suspected it for some time, but it was the big row over Jack which convinced me.’
    ‘Jack? The beach-boy?’
    ‘Don’t call him that. It makes him sound like a gigolo and he wasn’t. He was nice.’
    ‘Sorry. Tell me just what happened so I can be sure I’ve got my facts straight. You met him down in the Caribbean a couple
     of months ago, your father told me.’
    ‘Yes, I’d never gone along with Daddy and Alicia before on their annual Caribbean vacation – I’d always been in school, but
     when I dropped out of the art appreciation course Daddy said I must come with them because he couldn’t leave me on my own
     in New York with nothing to do. Well, that was okay. I hate New York in February. So there we were in Barbados and I met Jack
     on the beach. He was a life-guardemployed by one of the hotels but it was just a temporary job. He was going back home to California to college this fall.
     Of course I was staying on Daddy’s yacht but I used to go ashore every day, meet Jack for a swim and have an ice-cream while
     we talked about movies. He was just crazy about Betty Grable. He showed me his Betty Grable pin-ups once. He said my legs
     reminded him of her. He was so sweet.’
    ‘Uh-huh.’
    ‘Well, we had a lovely time, nothing serious, just a kiss now and then – gee, it was romantic! – and then Daddy said it was
     time to go to Antigua so that was that. But I gave Jack my address and he promised to write and suddenly last week – wham!
     There he was on the doorstep. I was so thrilled. He said he’d hitched a ride on a banana-boat to Miami where he’d snuck on
     a freight train heading north. He said he’d been thinking of me non-stop since I left Barbados. Well, gee, it was so sweet
     of him to come – what else could I do but invite him to stay for a few days? But then Daddy goes berserk and says no, never
     under any circumstances, and Jack can get the hell out. My God, how rude can you get! I was so embarrassed I could have died.
     After Jack had gone to the YMCA Daddy and I had this huge row and that was when—’ She stopped.
    ‘When he said something like: “I wish to God you were safely married and out of my hair”? You shouldn’t have taken him so
     seriously, Vicky! People often say silly things in the heat of the moment, and your father’s no exception.’
    ‘It wasn’t like that at all. You see for some time now he’s been pushing the doctrine that a woman’s only true fulfilment
     in life lies in being a wife and