Rich Man, Poor Man and Beggarman, Thief: In One Volume by Shaw Irwin

Author:Shaw, Irwin [Shaw, Irwin]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2013-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 2

1964

Even pregnant as she was, Jean insisted upon coming down and having breakfast with him every day. “At the end of the day,” she said, “I want to be as tired as you. I don’t want to be one of those American women who lie around all day and then when their husbands come home, drag the poor beasts out every evening, because they’re bursting with unused vigor. The energy gap has ruined more marriages by half than adultery.”

She was nearly at term and even under the loosely flowing nightgown and robe she was wearing, the bulge was huge and clumsy. Rudolph had a pang of guilt when he watched her. She had had such a neat delicate way of walking and now she was forced to balance herself painfully, belly protruding, pace careful, as she went from room to room. Nature has provided women with a kind of necessary lunacy, he thought, for them to desire to bring children into the world.

They sat in the dining room, with the pale April sun streaming through the windows, while Martha brought them fresh coffee. Martha had changed miraculously since his mother’s death. Although she ate no more than before, she had filled out and was now matronly and comfortable. The sharp lines of her face had disappeared and the everlasting downward twitch of her mouth had been replaced by something that might even have been a smile. Death has its uses, Rudolph thought, watching her gently place the coffee pot in front of Jean. In the old days she would have banged it down on the table, her daily accusation against Fate.

Pregnancy had rounded Jean’s face and she no longer looked like a schoolgirl fiercely determined to get the best marks in the class. Placid and womanly, her face glowed softly in the sunlight.

“This morning,” Rudolph said, “you look saintly.”

“You’d look saintly, too,” Jean said, “if you hadn’t had any sex for two months.”

“I hope the kid turns out to be worth all this,” Rudolph said.

“He’d better.”

“How is it this morning?”

“Okay. He’s marching up and down wearing paratroop boots, but otherwise okay.”

“What if it’s a girl?” Rudolph asked.

“I’ll teach her not to overlap,” Jean said. They both laughed.

“What have you got to do this morning?” he asked.

“There’s a nurse coming to be interviewed, and the furniture’s coming for the nursery and Martha and I have to put it in place and I have to take my vitamins and I have to weigh myself,” Jean said. “A big morning. How about you?”

“I have to go to the university,” Rudolph said. “There’s a board of trustees’ meeting. Then I ought to look in at the office …”

“You’re not going to let that old monster Calderwood nag at you again, are you?”

Ever since Rudolph had told Calderwood he intended to retire from the business in June, Calderwood had argued with him almost every time he saw him. “Who retires at the age of thirty-six, for the Lord’s sake?” Calderwood kept repeating.

“I do,” Rudolph had once replied, but Calderwood had refused to believe him.

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