Read Online The Friend of Women and Other Stories by Louis Auchincloss - Free Book Online Page A

Eliot can be. And I’d never had a real lover in all my life! I tried to convince myself that Letty wouldn’t care that much. I certainly resolved that she should never know. And if I helped myself to one little piece of happiness after all my years of frustration, was it really so wicked? Yes, I suppose it was.”
    â€œHow did Ralph find out?”
    â€œI don’t know!” She gave a little cry of pain. “He must have been trailing me for weeks and hoping against hope that he’d catch me in something like this. And now I must accept his humiliating terms!”
    â€œI’m afraid it’s going to cost you a pretty penny.”
    â€œAnything is better than having Letty know! I couldn’t bear to have Letty know that I’d betrayed her.”
    For a moment, I was rendered speechless by such a sacrifice. For even in a successful divorce for adultery, a husband might have to give his wife more than Ralph had offered. “That’s very big of you, my dear. I haven’t a fortune, but what I have will always be at your disposal. And when I die I’ll leave it to you. Alfireda and Letty will hardly need it.”
    Cora took my hand. “That’s darling of you, Hubert. But don’t forget. I still have my job. And Letty is very generous with her staff.”
    â€œYour job? You mean you’ll go on with Eliot? After what’s happened?”
    â€œCertainly. We mustn’t do anything to make Letty suspect.”
    â€œBut you won’t...?” I couldn’t finish.
    â€œCarry on the affair? Oh, that’s over and done with.”
    â€œHow did that come about?”
    â€œBecause I found out that he didn’t give a damn about me. I was only another tart to him. He had these terrible depressions when he would tell me that. And he was always ranting about Letty. He was obsessed with her!”
    â€œYou mean because he really cared for her, after all?”
    â€œNo! Because he really hates her!”
    â€œOh, my god! What makes you think that?”
    â€œI feel it! He hates her because she owns all the things he thinks should be his. Because his successes are all really hers. Because she’s
him!
And he was screwing me only to screw her. He’s a fiend, Hubert!”
    â€œPerhaps something simpler than that.”
    â€œAnyway, I’m terrified that in one of his blinding depressions he may tell Letty to get back at me for ending the affair. And to get back at her for being her. To destroy our friendship and knock her to bits. He’ll tell her about Alfreda’s baby, too.”
    â€œOh, you know about that?”
    â€œHe told me. The man’s capable of anything. Can’t you do something about him, Hubert?”
    â€œI can’t think of what, but I can certainly try.”
    â€œIf you think I should quit the magazine, I will.”
    â€œCertainly not. That’s the one thing in your life that makes sense. Let’s not throw everything away. But don’t go to work today. Too much has happened. Why don’t you go home now and have a nap and then meet me for lunch at Lutèce, where we’ll talk only about pleasant things.”
6.
    In the first six years of their marriage, the Amorys seemed to be accomplishing everything that Elias Bernard had expected of their combined efforts. Eliot reduced his practice of law to a minimum, though retaining his partnership at a much smaller share of the firm profits, and devoted the bulk of his seemingly inexhaustible energies to the management of his late father-in-law’s interests. He and Letty as coeditors of the magazine turned it into a major periodical of political and literary significance with a national circulation. Letty’s securities swelled in value under Eliot’s expert supervision, and the great ranch became a model for new techniques in the breeding and raising of cattle. With two fine little daughters, Letty and he appeared to be sitting