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.Lizzie is playing slugabed. You sit down.I ll cook. Laurie shed her coat, tookher aunt by the shoulders, and propelled her towarda chair.The bones under her hands felt patheticallyfrail and brittle. I m glad to have a chance to talk to you, she wenton, prodding the sausages that were gently sizzling inthe frying pan. Does Aunt Lizzie have any money? She expected a dignified remonstrance at the vulgar-ity of the question.There was no answer at all.Sheturned to look with surprise at Ida. I feared you would ask that eventually, her auntsaid with a sigh. My dear Laura, Elizabeth has all themoney. All? Ned has his own income, of course.However, hecontributes generously to the expenses of maintainingIdlewood, and he is ridiculously extravagant about hishobbies.Thousands each The Love Talker / 267year to the various societies for the protection of anim-als, and You re rambling, Aunt Ida, Laurie interrupted. That isn t like you.I m surprised.I never thought&.You know I m not asking out of idle curiosity, don tyou? Yes, my dear.I know precisely why you are asking. Then tell me, please. You are aware, of course, her aunt began, thatthere were four of us to begin with.Your Uncle Ned,Elizabeth, myself, and Mary, your grandmother.PoorMary died young, God rest her before our fatherpassed on.You never knew your great-grandfather.You would not have understood him.He was anautocrat of the old school, with strong views aboutfamily and property.Yet in his way he was fair-minded;he made no distinction between his male and femaleoffspring.We four were to share equally in his es-tate which was, I might add, extensive.Then& Herthin lips quivered.Laurie hated to see her so distressed,but she hardened her heart; this story might or mightnot be useful, she could not tell until she had heard it.Ida regained control of herself and went on in a firmvoice. As father grew older, he grew as we all do! moreopinionated and more rigid.Your grandmother Mary sshare of the property 268 / Elizabeth Peterswould ordinarily have passed to your mother, butAnna s way of living offended Father.When Anna di-vorced your father, Papa cut her out of the will. My father? Don t you mean Doug s father? Or didhe allow her one mistake? Like another, more famous autocratic old lady, AuntIda was not amused. Certainly not.He was violently opposed to divorce.I meant her first husband, of course. So her share went back into the estate, Laurieprodded. That is correct.Ned lost his share when he retiredfrom the office.Papa had no patience with a man whowould not work. But how did Uncle Ned get the money to pay hisshare of the expenses here? Ned did very well in business, her aunt explained. I don t understand such matters myself. They are,her tone implied, too vulgar. So now we re down to you and Aunt Lizzie, Lauriemused. Your father must have been a He had every right to do what he wished with hisown, Ida said firmly. He chose& Her hesitation wasonly momentary. He chose to leave everything toLizzie. Why did he do that? I have explained to you why he omitted Ned andMary.His reasons for excluding me are irrelevant. She lifted a hand to silence Laurie as The Love Talker / 269the latter started to object. Believe me, Laura, theyare. Couldn t you challenge the will? Laurie asked in-dignantly. Certainly not! Her aunt was equally indignant. Father was in complete possession of his senses.Theembarrassment and publicity of a lawsuit were out ofthe question. Her tone softened. It has never madeany difference, Laura.Your Aunt Elizabeth is verygenerous. She added, with no change of tone, Youare burning the sausages. Oh. Laurie flipped the sausages, with a recklessspatter of grease.She was now as reluctant as Ida topursue the subject, but she forced herself to ask thequestion to which she already knew the answer. Thenwho inherits when Aunt Lizzie dies? I do, of course, Ida said. And Ned.Elizabeth hasalways refused to make a will.Do you see now why Ihave been perturbed? If Elizabeth is losing her mindshe will require skilled care; and an institution is outof the question, Laura, I could not bring myself to takeher from her home.If there is a plot aimed at her sanityor her life& Oh, my, Laurie said helplessly. I see what youmean. A singularly useless comment, said a voice fromthe door.Laurie turned.Hands in the 270 / Elizabeth Peterspockets of his jeans, hair immaculate, Doug loungedagainst the doorframe. How long have you been there? she asked. I heard most of it. Doug uncrossed his legs andwent to Ida.Dropping to one knee, he put both armsaround her stiff shoulders. Get one thing straight, hetold her. I wouldn t believe you wanted to harm AuntLizzie if I caught you pointing a gun at her.I wouldn tbelieve it if Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot andthe combined police forces of greater New York, Bal-timore, and Washington, D.C., told me so. Even in that extremity Ida did not succumb to theweakness of tears or emotion.She only said, Thankyou, Douglas, but her expression as she looked at himmade Laurie s throat tighten. Make that two of us, she said.Doug squeezed his aunt s shoulders and rose to hisfeet.Laurie was feeling particularly fond of him at thatmoment; she noted with approval that he movedneatly, without Jeff s feline suppleness, but with a graceall his own.Yes, as brothers went, he was a good ex-ample. You are burning the sausages, he said. Oh, curse it. They re a lost cause, I m afraid. Doug inspectedthe wrinkled, leathery dark-brown objects in the panwith a fastidiously lifted nose. Get out of the way andlet me cook.I can see The Love Talker / 271I ll never get any breakfast if I depend on you emotion-al females.Where is everybody this morning? We all slept late, Ida said.Doug busied himself at the stove.Laurie got herselfsome coffee and refilled her aunt s cup.Having starteda new batch of sausages and filled the toaster withbread, Doug said, We had another bad night lastnight, Aunt Ida.Luckily Aunt Lizzie didn t hear it, butthe fairy piper was at it again.Laurie sallied bravelyforth to investigate and the musician tried to run herdown with the Lincoln. Ida s shocked exclamation was echoed from the hall.Lizzie stood there, her horrified face contrastingludicrously with her frivolous lace-trimmed peasantblouse and ropes of bright beads. You are tact personified, Laurie told Doug. It sall right, Aunts; I wasn t hurt, I just skinned my knees. Deciding that Lizzie was the more perturbed of thetwo, she started toward her, bent on reassurance, butLizzie waved her off and stumbled back.So mightMacbeth have responded to the ghost of Banquo, hisvictim, and although Laurie knew her aunt s distresswas genuine, she could not help noticing the streak oftheatricalism that seemed to run in the family. 272 / Elizabeth Peters Oh, dear, Lizzie gasped. Oh, I never thought&.It isn t fun anymore.I can t let this& Wait here.Wait,I ll be right back. She retreated at full speed, her dangling necklacesclashing.The others exchanged glances. Oh, oh, Laurie said. You don t suppose sheplanned it herself? The thought did pass through my mind, Dougadmitted. But, damn it excuse me, Aunt Ida no,she couldn t have.Not alone [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Lizzie is playing slugabed. You sit down.I ll cook. Laurie shed her coat, tookher aunt by the shoulders, and propelled her towarda chair.The bones under her hands felt patheticallyfrail and brittle. I m glad to have a chance to talk to you, she wenton, prodding the sausages that were gently sizzling inthe frying pan. Does Aunt Lizzie have any money? She expected a dignified remonstrance at the vulgar-ity of the question.There was no answer at all.Sheturned to look with surprise at Ida. I feared you would ask that eventually, her auntsaid with a sigh. My dear Laura, Elizabeth has all themoney. All? Ned has his own income, of course.However, hecontributes generously to the expenses of maintainingIdlewood, and he is ridiculously extravagant about hishobbies.Thousands each The Love Talker / 267year to the various societies for the protection of anim-als, and You re rambling, Aunt Ida, Laurie interrupted. That isn t like you.I m surprised.I never thought&.You know I m not asking out of idle curiosity, don tyou? Yes, my dear.I know precisely why you are asking. Then tell me, please. You are aware, of course, her aunt began, thatthere were four of us to begin with.Your Uncle Ned,Elizabeth, myself, and Mary, your grandmother.PoorMary died young, God rest her before our fatherpassed on.You never knew your great-grandfather.You would not have understood him.He was anautocrat of the old school, with strong views aboutfamily and property.Yet in his way he was fair-minded;he made no distinction between his male and femaleoffspring.We four were to share equally in his es-tate which was, I might add, extensive.Then& Herthin lips quivered.Laurie hated to see her so distressed,but she hardened her heart; this story might or mightnot be useful, she could not tell until she had heard it.Ida regained control of herself and went on in a firmvoice. As father grew older, he grew as we all do! moreopinionated and more rigid.Your grandmother Mary sshare of the property 268 / Elizabeth Peterswould ordinarily have passed to your mother, butAnna s way of living offended Father.When Anna di-vorced your father, Papa cut her out of the will. My father? Don t you mean Doug s father? Or didhe allow her one mistake? Like another, more famous autocratic old lady, AuntIda was not amused. Certainly not.He was violently opposed to divorce.I meant her first husband, of course. So her share went back into the estate, Laurieprodded. That is correct.Ned lost his share when he retiredfrom the office.Papa had no patience with a man whowould not work. But how did Uncle Ned get the money to pay hisshare of the expenses here? Ned did very well in business, her aunt explained. I don t understand such matters myself. They are,her tone implied, too vulgar. So now we re down to you and Aunt Lizzie, Lauriemused. Your father must have been a He had every right to do what he wished with hisown, Ida said firmly. He chose& Her hesitation wasonly momentary. He chose to leave everything toLizzie. Why did he do that? I have explained to you why he omitted Ned andMary.His reasons for excluding me are irrelevant. She lifted a hand to silence Laurie as The Love Talker / 269the latter started to object. Believe me, Laura, theyare. Couldn t you challenge the will? Laurie asked in-dignantly. Certainly not! Her aunt was equally indignant. Father was in complete possession of his senses.Theembarrassment and publicity of a lawsuit were out ofthe question. Her tone softened. It has never madeany difference, Laura.Your Aunt Elizabeth is verygenerous. She added, with no change of tone, Youare burning the sausages. Oh. Laurie flipped the sausages, with a recklessspatter of grease.She was now as reluctant as Ida topursue the subject, but she forced herself to ask thequestion to which she already knew the answer. Thenwho inherits when Aunt Lizzie dies? I do, of course, Ida said. And Ned.Elizabeth hasalways refused to make a will.Do you see now why Ihave been perturbed? If Elizabeth is losing her mindshe will require skilled care; and an institution is outof the question, Laura, I could not bring myself to takeher from her home.If there is a plot aimed at her sanityor her life& Oh, my, Laurie said helplessly. I see what youmean. A singularly useless comment, said a voice fromthe door.Laurie turned.Hands in the 270 / Elizabeth Peterspockets of his jeans, hair immaculate, Doug loungedagainst the doorframe. How long have you been there? she asked. I heard most of it. Doug uncrossed his legs andwent to Ida.Dropping to one knee, he put both armsaround her stiff shoulders. Get one thing straight, hetold her. I wouldn t believe you wanted to harm AuntLizzie if I caught you pointing a gun at her.I wouldn tbelieve it if Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot andthe combined police forces of greater New York, Bal-timore, and Washington, D.C., told me so. Even in that extremity Ida did not succumb to theweakness of tears or emotion.She only said, Thankyou, Douglas, but her expression as she looked at himmade Laurie s throat tighten. Make that two of us, she said.Doug squeezed his aunt s shoulders and rose to hisfeet.Laurie was feeling particularly fond of him at thatmoment; she noted with approval that he movedneatly, without Jeff s feline suppleness, but with a graceall his own.Yes, as brothers went, he was a good ex-ample. You are burning the sausages, he said. Oh, curse it. They re a lost cause, I m afraid. Doug inspectedthe wrinkled, leathery dark-brown objects in the panwith a fastidiously lifted nose. Get out of the way andlet me cook.I can see The Love Talker / 271I ll never get any breakfast if I depend on you emotion-al females.Where is everybody this morning? We all slept late, Ida said.Doug busied himself at the stove.Laurie got herselfsome coffee and refilled her aunt s cup.Having starteda new batch of sausages and filled the toaster withbread, Doug said, We had another bad night lastnight, Aunt Ida.Luckily Aunt Lizzie didn t hear it, butthe fairy piper was at it again.Laurie sallied bravelyforth to investigate and the musician tried to run herdown with the Lincoln. Ida s shocked exclamation was echoed from the hall.Lizzie stood there, her horrified face contrastingludicrously with her frivolous lace-trimmed peasantblouse and ropes of bright beads. You are tact personified, Laurie told Doug. It sall right, Aunts; I wasn t hurt, I just skinned my knees. Deciding that Lizzie was the more perturbed of thetwo, she started toward her, bent on reassurance, butLizzie waved her off and stumbled back.So mightMacbeth have responded to the ghost of Banquo, hisvictim, and although Laurie knew her aunt s distresswas genuine, she could not help noticing the streak oftheatricalism that seemed to run in the family. 272 / Elizabeth Peters Oh, dear, Lizzie gasped. Oh, I never thought&.It isn t fun anymore.I can t let this& Wait here.Wait,I ll be right back. She retreated at full speed, her dangling necklacesclashing.The others exchanged glances. Oh, oh, Laurie said. You don t suppose sheplanned it herself? The thought did pass through my mind, Dougadmitted. But, damn it excuse me, Aunt Ida no,she couldn t have.Not alone [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]