grinning.
Vaguely, Lily murmured, “I assume she’ll improve—with time. She could hardly get worse.”
Maxime’s colic and heat rash disappeared at the same time. Within six months she had put on enough weight so that her skinny little legs were dimpled and straight, her hair, once it started to grow, was straight and thick and, to Zachary’s sweet and triumphant delight, she had a pure white streak exactly the same place as his. As for her spirit, she managed within twenty-two months to break that of the nurse who specialized in difficult cases.
“Madame,” Miss Hemmings said, almost in tears, “I’ve had sick babies, babies so quiet that you knew there had to be something wrong; I’ve had hyperactive babies who got into everything, including the sewers; I’ve had babies who could and did climb a tree before they were ayear old; I’ve had babies you couldn’t toilet-train for four years, I’ve had every kind of baby I thought was possible, but Maxi … I just have to go away for a rest, Madame, or I’ll have a nervous breakdown.”
“Oh, no! Don’t do that, Miss Hemmings. Please, please don’t leave!” Lily begged.
“I must, Madame. I love Maxi too much. She’s so adorable and she’s so
naughty
. I can’t bring myself to punish her and that’s bad for the child.”
“I thought you were supposed to be able to handle that sort of problem,” Lily said coldly. The woman was obviously determined to leave. “I’m afraid that Maxi has been spoiled rotten. She wants what she wants when she wants it … surely you should have managed to do something about that.”
“I’ve tried, Madame, but …”
“But you’ve failed; it’s that simple, really, isn’t it?”
“If you want to look at it that way, yes.” Miss Hemmings’s tone was that of someone who refused to be drawn out and Lily found herself intensely irritated.
“I hold you entirely responsible for Maxi’s discipline problem, Miss Hemmings, and I’m afraid I can’t give you a good reference.”
“That’s up to you, Madame. But I doubt that Maxi’s problems can be solved just by finding another nurse.”
“We’ll see about that! I’m sure someone else will do quite well,” Lily said furiously.
“I don’t like to blame the parents,” Miss Hemmings said, her professional pride wounded, “but there’s only so much any nurse can achieve. Now if you’ll excuse me, Madame …”
“Just a minute. Precisely what do you mean about blaming parents, Miss Hemmings?”
“Maxi is spoiled because her father gives her everything she wants and you spend all your available time with Toby. She’s trying terribly hard to get her mother’s attention and, since you asked me to speak out, she’s using her father as a substitute.” Before Lily could begin to reply Miss Hemmings left the room and went upstairs to pack. In a long and honorable career she had never spoken her mindso clearly, and as miserable as she felt about leaving Maxi she was rather pleased with herself.
Toby’s English nanny, Mrs. Browne, was made of sterner stuff than Miss Hemmings. She took over Maxi, referring to her as “our two-year-old” in a way that explained away everything. Lily, unwillingly stung by Miss Hemmings’s remarks, now made a point of reading to the little girl almost every evening before the child’s dinner, and of letting Maxi play with her jewels for half an hour on Sunday mornings, perched shoeless in the middle of Lily’s antique lace wedding cake of a bed. No one can ever accuse me of being a neglectful mother, she thought, raging with resentful boredom as she read aloud.
It was soon after Tobias’s fourth birthday that he began falling out of bed. For two years he had occasionally awakened in the middle of the night and gone to the bathroom when he had to, treading carefully along the familiar route so as not to disturb anybody.
“Could I have a night light, Mother?” he asked Lily one day.
“Oh, my darling, you
Vaguely, Lily murmured, “I assume she’ll improve—with time. She could hardly get worse.”
Maxime’s colic and heat rash disappeared at the same time. Within six months she had put on enough weight so that her skinny little legs were dimpled and straight, her hair, once it started to grow, was straight and thick and, to Zachary’s sweet and triumphant delight, she had a pure white streak exactly the same place as his. As for her spirit, she managed within twenty-two months to break that of the nurse who specialized in difficult cases.
“Madame,” Miss Hemmings said, almost in tears, “I’ve had sick babies, babies so quiet that you knew there had to be something wrong; I’ve had hyperactive babies who got into everything, including the sewers; I’ve had babies who could and did climb a tree before they were ayear old; I’ve had babies you couldn’t toilet-train for four years, I’ve had every kind of baby I thought was possible, but Maxi … I just have to go away for a rest, Madame, or I’ll have a nervous breakdown.”
“Oh, no! Don’t do that, Miss Hemmings. Please, please don’t leave!” Lily begged.
“I must, Madame. I love Maxi too much. She’s so adorable and she’s so
naughty
. I can’t bring myself to punish her and that’s bad for the child.”
“I thought you were supposed to be able to handle that sort of problem,” Lily said coldly. The woman was obviously determined to leave. “I’m afraid that Maxi has been spoiled rotten. She wants what she wants when she wants it … surely you should have managed to do something about that.”
“I’ve tried, Madame, but …”
“But you’ve failed; it’s that simple, really, isn’t it?”
“If you want to look at it that way, yes.” Miss Hemmings’s tone was that of someone who refused to be drawn out and Lily found herself intensely irritated.
“I hold you entirely responsible for Maxi’s discipline problem, Miss Hemmings, and I’m afraid I can’t give you a good reference.”
“That’s up to you, Madame. But I doubt that Maxi’s problems can be solved just by finding another nurse.”
“We’ll see about that! I’m sure someone else will do quite well,” Lily said furiously.
“I don’t like to blame the parents,” Miss Hemmings said, her professional pride wounded, “but there’s only so much any nurse can achieve. Now if you’ll excuse me, Madame …”
“Just a minute. Precisely what do you mean about blaming parents, Miss Hemmings?”
“Maxi is spoiled because her father gives her everything she wants and you spend all your available time with Toby. She’s trying terribly hard to get her mother’s attention and, since you asked me to speak out, she’s using her father as a substitute.” Before Lily could begin to reply Miss Hemmings left the room and went upstairs to pack. In a long and honorable career she had never spoken her mindso clearly, and as miserable as she felt about leaving Maxi she was rather pleased with herself.
Toby’s English nanny, Mrs. Browne, was made of sterner stuff than Miss Hemmings. She took over Maxi, referring to her as “our two-year-old” in a way that explained away everything. Lily, unwillingly stung by Miss Hemmings’s remarks, now made a point of reading to the little girl almost every evening before the child’s dinner, and of letting Maxi play with her jewels for half an hour on Sunday mornings, perched shoeless in the middle of Lily’s antique lace wedding cake of a bed. No one can ever accuse me of being a neglectful mother, she thought, raging with resentful boredom as she read aloud.
It was soon after Tobias’s fourth birthday that he began falling out of bed. For two years he had occasionally awakened in the middle of the night and gone to the bathroom when he had to, treading carefully along the familiar route so as not to disturb anybody.
“Could I have a night light, Mother?” he asked Lily one day.
“Oh, my darling, you
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