Blackwood Farm - Anne Rice [148]
“Nash asked for a glass of plain soda water, remarking that he had finished a lifetime of drinking earlier than one might have expected.
“The waitress departed in an anxious flurry.
“Then Nash began to introduce himself, his slow, careful sonorous voice telling of how he and Aunt Queen had met in Europe, where Nash had been shepherding a group of high school students on a tour of the Continent.
“This was apparently Nash’s summer job throughout graduate school at Claremont College in California, but he was now finished with all course work for his Ph.D. and needed only to write his dissertation.
“Subject? A thorough investigation as to whether Charles Dickens had ever been edited, and what effect modern editing standards might have had on his work, with heavy reliance on an examination of how Dickens’ writings had been abridged in England and America.
“I was immediately interested, and also attracted to this deep-voiced man with the gray at his temples, and I felt I could have listened to his easy eloquence for hours. In fact, I longed to do so. He had a natural wide-eyed expression when he spoke and an inveterate politeness that was totally disarming.
“But Aunt Queen quickly cut in to express her immediate desire: that as soon as Pops’ will was read, we go on to Europe. Of course Nash agreed with her that I was the perfect age for the Grand Tour, and I believed Nash when he told me that I would never quite again be as impressionable as I was now. Then he turned to Goblin, and, trying to lock eyes with something parallel to me, asked Goblin what he thought of the travel proposal.
“I took Goblin’s right hand, which felt heavy and warm, but he showed me nothing but that cold profile again and he was utterly silent.
“ ‘Goblin, what do you think? Do you remember our trip to New York?’ The question came out of my mouth before I could realize that it was a blunder. Goblin had gotten weaker and weaker in New York, until he was scarcely more than a sheer phantom.
“ ‘Goblin, we won’t do anything that’s bad for us,’ I said. ‘Here, look at this martini.’ I held up the glass for him. And then I took a swallow of it myself. ‘Here’s to you, Goblin. We’re together. We’re going home to the house tonight. We’re through with this hospital and anybody and everybody that would have worked for our separation.’
“Of course this long speech was entirely audible to Nash and Aunt Queen, and Aunt Queen picked up the gist immediately.
“ ‘Come, Goblin,’ said Aunt Queen, ‘certainly you want to go to Europe. We’ll have so much fun together.’
“Again, I tried to elicit some reaction from him, but I couldn’t. He wasn’t playing at eating his food or drinking his drink, and he stared at Nash as if he was the enemy.
“ ‘No, Goblin, he’s not!’ I leaned towards him. I whispered. ‘He’s good for us. Remember how Lynelle was good? That’s how this man is. I knew it the moment he started talking to us.’
“Of course Nash and Aunt Queen could hear this, and Aunt Queen said at once: ‘I’m so supremely overjoyed. Quinn, dear, don’t drink that martini too fast. The wine I’ve chosen is excellent.’
“Goblin continued to stare forward.
“ ‘Never mind him for now,’ I said. ‘I think the hospital stay has exhausted him. Nash—I presume you do want me to call you Nash’ (’Oh, absolutely,’ he replied) ‘—we’ve just been through a peculiar ordeal upstairs and—.’
“Before I could say more I heard Goblin’s ominous monotone: ‘Europe, I can’t,’ he said. ‘Too far for me. You remember New York. You talk like a fool. Goblin Quinn one person.’
“It was clear that no one else could hear him.
“ ‘I know,’ I replied aloud. ‘I understand. All right. We’ll think on it.’
“ ‘I once thought,’ he went on in the same chilling voice, ‘Europe existed in pictures and stories. Then Aunt Queen called from Europe, we saw movies of Europe, Lynelle taught you about Europe. Europe is real and far away. No going to Europe. No. Do this and we split apart. Quinn Goblin one person.’
“My anxiety was cresting. Plates