Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara [84]
and dresses she must have and she had them. She was the prettiest woman of her age in Gibbsville, and though she did not know it and would not have accepted it, her hairdresser would have been glad to do her for nothing, she was such a good ad. She also would have made a good ad for spectacles; but she also would have made a good ad for drinking a cup of hot water in the morning, Don t Worry, take a nap every afternoon, walk a mile every day, the Golden Rule, visit your dentist twice a year, and all the other codes that she had the time and the means to live by. Judge Walker had not left a great fortune, but there was money there. Mrs. Walker gave $250 to this, $15 to that, and never personally turned a hungry man away from her kitchen door. When Caroline was at Bryn Mawr, Mrs. Walker, according to Caroline, became president ex officio of the college, and in later years it was always with difficulty that Caroline restrained her mother from calling on Dr. Marion every time they motored through Bryn Mawr, the town. Someone once told Mrs. Walker that Caroline had great independence of spirit, and this delighted the mother and caused her to allow Caroline to develop as much as possible unassisted. Whatever independence of spirit Caroline possessed bad developed unassisted before Mrs. Walker made a philosophy of it, but at least Mrs. Walker did make it much easier for Caroline, and Caroline made it as easy as possible for her mother to develop unassisted too. There had been nothing but placid love in their relationship from the time Caroline began taking her own baths. It was a comfortable relationship, only slightly disturbed, if at all, by the fact that from the time of that necessary talk when Caroline was thirteen, Caroline always thought of her mother as a person who could say the mouth of the womb without leaving the tiniest inference of any excitement to be had there. In the beginning of her love with Julian Caroline sometimes felt sorry for her mother as she felt sorry for all the females she liked because of what they were missing, but after a year or two she wondered if it could not be possible that her mother simply had forgot the hours of her own passion. Julian said that a lovely lady had to be passionate to get that look and Mrs. Walker had been a lovely lady. Julian was fond of his wife s mother, a fondness that was incomplete only because he was not sure that she really liked him. But Mrs. Walker gave everyone who knew her well that feeling; and the truth was that at the moment of ordering the groceries, Mrs. Walker was as fond of Joe Machamer, the clerk at Scott s, as she was of anyone except her daughter, and the dignity in the memory of her husband, and Abraham Lincoln. (Mrs. Walker had an uncle whose home had been part of the underground railway for slaves.) Mrs. Walker was turning the pages of a Christmas book, Mr. Currier and Mr. Ives, when she heard the front door open and close. Who is it? she sang. Me. Caroline took off her gloves and coat and hat, and her mother put up her hand as though to ward off a too-affectionate kiss (it gave that impression), but when her daughter lowered her head to kiss her, Mrs. Walker cupped Caroline s chin in the palm of her hand. Dear, she said. Did you have a nice Christmas. Never even telephoned, did you?
Yes, I did, but you were out.
Yes, I was. I did go to Uncle Sam s. You look well, dear.
I don t feel well. I feel like the devil. Mother, what
Yes, a little tired. A little strained. Why don t you make Julian take you
What would you do if I got a divorce?
to Pinehurst. Divorce? Oh, now, Caroline. Four years, almost five. Divorce.
I thought so, said Caroline. She relaxed. I m sorry. I just came here because I had to speak to somebody and I didn’t want to talk to somebody that d blab it all over.
Are you serious?
Yes, I m serious.
But are you? Are you serious, Caroline? That s a very serious thing, when people start talking about a divorce. We ve never had a divorce in our family, and I don t think there was ever one in Julian s family either. What is it?
I m