The Judgement of Paris by Gore Vidal

Author:Gore Vidal
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2016-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

“WELCOME home, young man,” said Mr. Willys cheerily. “How were the ruins? Hot work, isn’t it? Archeology, I mean.”

He was sitting up in bed, his thin gray hair combed, the head bandage removed and the torn ear nearly healed. He wore a Chinese dressing gown of white silk with a blue dragon picked out in it.

“Very hot, and I’m glad to be back: the food was terrible. How have you been?”

“On top of the world.” Mr. Willys beamed. “I can never thank you enough for introducing me to Mrs Peabody. I never imagined any woman could be so wonderful. She knows everything, literally everything...in her field, that is. It’s been a real education, I can tell you.”

“Is she getting on with her book?”

“Oh, she’s not writing here. She’s just doing fieldwork. Collecting data, that’s all. She will later dictate the entire work in five days into a tape recorder.”

“Prodigious,” said Philip, sitting down beside the bed in such a way that the afternoon sun was not in his eyes. “Then you’re taking a more cheerful view of things, I suppose.”

“I certainly am,” said Mr. Willys. “I feel better than I have in years.”

“You’ve stopped all of that nonsense about wanting to kill yourself?”

“Well...yes and no.” Mr. Willys suddenly looked as crafty as his open pudding face would allow. “If you mean have I given up hope of being able to kill myself, I will say yes, I have. I just don’t have the courage to do it.”

“Well, that’s good news. You probably won’t be staying here much longer.”

“No. Not much longer.” He smiled craftily.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand you.”

“Can I trust you?” Mr. Willys narrowed his tiny eyes until they disappeared.

“Of course you can.” Philip was curious.

“You’ll not try to interfere in any way...if I tell you?”

“I promise.”

“I know I shouldn’t tell you but I can’t help it. I must talk to someone and you’re the logical person since, without knowing it, of course, you brought the whole wonderful thing about”

“What wonderful thing?”

“Fay Peabody.”

“Well? Is she a wonderful thing?” Philip had a vision of Mr. Willys and Mrs Peabody being married in a Hollywood chapel full of lilies of the valley...providing, of course, Mr. Peabody had presented no legal difficulty, if there was still a Mr. Peabody to present difficulties. But his guess was wrong.

“You can take it from me, young man, that she’s a mighty bright little lady, with her heart in the right place. She’s consented to do it.”

“To marry you?” Philip did not want immediately to give up this dream.

“No, to administer the poison. We’ve had a number of long talks and she’s consented to do for me what no other person of my acquaintance would do and what, as you know, I couldn’t do for myself. As a matter of fact, she’s quite thrilled by the whole thing.”

“You had no trouble in persuading her?”

“A great deal...especially at first. She had all sorts of scruples but when she saw how serious I was and how much I needed help she took pity on me.

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