A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams

Author:Beatriz Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-04-15T04:00:00+00:00

SHE’S A COWARD.

All she had to do, really, was to stand up and say those words. Stand up and say, “I’m very sorry, the two of you; I know you both desire this marriage to take place as soon as possible. But I’m afraid I’ve made a mistake. I was swept along by the excitement of it all, by my inexperience, by my eagerness to do what everyone wants of me, and now that I’ve had a chance to reflect on what it all means—why, I just can’t. Not with Mr. Ochsner, anyway. And that’s it.”

A good speech, isn’t it? Full of resolve, a dignified reflection. Impossible to argue. A girl who knows her own mind and isn’t going to let you persuade her otherwise. She rehearsed the words to herself as she sat there on the sofa next to Mr. Ochsner, while Virgo poured Father a cup of tea, and Father and Mr. Ochsner discussed their mutual satisfaction with the match. (Why don’t they marry each other, then?) Several times, she cleared her throat and set down her teacup. Several times, when someone posed her a question, she prepared to reply in the manner of the paragraph above.

And could not.

The look on her father’s face just strangled the words in her throat. The pig iron in his eyes pressed and pressed against her resolute vowels and courageous consonants, until they crumbled against the wall of her esophagus, ashes to ashes, drenched in tea.

Now Jay is rising to his feet, beaming from every surface. Even his hands are beaming. They are going to be married on the fourteenth of February! Just a small ceremony, followed by dinner on Thirty-Second Street, only family and the odd close friend. And then off for the honeymoon! Father thinks South America is a splendid idea. Stay as long as you like. He’ll look out for a house for the newlyweds, have it all ready and fixed up by the time you return.

“Father,” Sophie says, “may I speak to you for a moment?”

“Sophie. We don’t want to be rude.”

“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” says Jay, checking his watch to be sure. “Though I guess it wouldn’t do any harm to stop by the office and see if I’m supposed to be in court.”

“Dear me! You’d better be off, then.”

“Ha! Only joking, dear heart. I practice corporate law, don’t you know. Never spent a day in court in my life.”

“Sophie,” says Father, “why don’t you see Mr. Ochsner out?”

The hallway is chillier than the parlor. Sophie hands Jay his coat and his round hat from the stand against the wall. He puts them on and winds his scarf about his throat. Sophie stands carefully back, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching out to take her by the shoulders. “They aren’t coming out yet, are they?” he asks.

“Not yet.”

“Good.” He bends down and kisses her, so forcefully that Sophie staggers back against the opposite wall and gasps into his tea-scented mouth.

“Mr. Ochsner!”

He goes on kissing her.

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