Wives and Lovers by Margaret Millar

Author:Margaret Millar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2015-11-01T20:03:47+00:00

9

Elaine called from the bedroom, “Is that you, Gordon?”

“Yes.”

“Where on earth have you been?”

He heard her sharp footsteps approaching the head of the stairs, and in the background the sounds of the children quarreling: Gimme it, it’s mine, gimme it.

Elaine came down the steps with quick, exasperated movements. She wore her old housecoat, but her face was made up and her hair was swirled on top of her head, pinned with a large Spanish comb.

“You know we were going to the party at the club tonight, Gordon. Where have you been?”

“I took a drive.”

“All this time? I even phoned Hazel to see if you had an emergency appointment or something. She said no, she left the office at twelve noon and so did you.”

“I forgot about the party.”

“I kept your dinner hot for a full hour.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Elaine.”

“You’re sorry, well, that’s just fine,” she said with a bitter little smile. “You go off for eight hours without letting me know and then you say you’re sorry.”

Gordon said dryly, “I keep getting sorrier and sorrier, if that’s any consolation to you.”

“And now you’ve got the nerve to turn around and be sarcastic about it! I suppose you expect me to believe that, about your going for a drive.”

“I went for a drive, you don’t have to believe it.”

“I wonder.”

“I can’t stop you wondering. I still went for a drive.”

At the top of the stairs there was a faint rustle, a flutter of white. Gordon looked up and saw Judith and Paul standing there listening. They were in their pajamas, Paul delicate and nervous, and Judith round as a ball. She had a candy stored in her mouth and one cheek was distended.

“Hello, Judith,” Gordon said with forced cheerfulness. “Hello, Paul.”

The boy lowered his head and took a step back. Judith said, “Hello.”

“Well. And what have you two been doing all day?”

“We went for a drive.” She began to giggle. “We went for a drive. Didn’t we, Paul? Didn’t we went for a drive?”

The boy began to giggle too, and the giggles grew into long shuddering sobs of laughter. “We went for a drive, we went for a drive!”

They started to jump up and down, in time to the words, up and down the hall they went in a frenzy of excitement, repeating the magic, mysterious and somehow forbidden words: “We went for a drive!”

“Stop it!” Elaine shouted. “If you don’t go right back to your rooms I’ll tell Miss Kane not to come tonight.”

The boy stopped jumping immediately and said, “I want Ruth to come. I want Ruth.”

“Then go quietly to your room.”

“Is Ruth coming?”

“She’s coming if you behave yourself.”

“She’s not coming, you said she’s not coming!”

“I said I’d tell her not to come if you make any more fuss.”

“She’s not coming, she’s not coming!” The boy went, wailing softly, back to his room. He felt betrayed, cheated. She was not coming. His mother was a black witch and his father told lies.

The parents were too ashamed to look at each other.

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