another," said Lilah to the waiter.
Malcolm took a big gulp of his first drink.
"Have you told Miriam?" he asked apprehensively.
"Nobody knows except you."
"Listen, honey," said Malcolm. "Everybody in Per-dido is gone be real upset when you don't come back with us. Have you thought of that?"
"I don't have time to go back to Perdido, Malcolm. I told you, freshman orientation is on Monday."
"Hey, I guess you knew about this when you came up here."
"Of course I did. I've known about this for months. I was going to have to come up here this weekend anyway. It was just luck that you and Miriam had to go at the same time."
"But why didn't you say goodbye to everybody when you went away?"
"Because I didn't want everybody slobbering over me," said Lilah. "So don't you start either, Malcolm. Here comes your other drink."
It was Malcolm who told Miriam of Lilah's plans that evening when Miriam got back to the hotel.
Lilah sat on the edge of the bed in the next room waiting to be called in. She was, quickly enough.
"Well," Miriam said curtly, "have you seen your dorm room?"
"No, ma'am," said Lilah. "They don't open until Monday."
"I bet it's a two-by-four. Mine was. Don't you want an apartment?"
"Let me stay in the dorm for a while, then I'll see," said Lilah.
"Are there sororities at Barnard?" Miriam asked.
"No, ma'am. And I don't care. I'm too old for that kind of nonsense."
"Do you want Malcolm and me to wait until Monday and make sure you get in all right?"
"Great God, no!" cried Lilah, who shuddered at the thought of her adoptive parents appearing with her at her first day at college. Then she relented, "Well, stay until Sunday night, and then fly back. Pay the bill here so I can stay until Monday morning, and I'll be fine."
And so it was done. Only Tommy Lee was surprised when Miriam and Malcolm returned from New York without Lilah. It was just about the kind of thing the family expected from the girl. Elinor's dinner table, scarcely recovered from the absence of Queenie, seemed abysmally shrunken.
"Did you ask her," said Oscar at dinner, "if she is ever gone let us see her again?"
"She said we could go up and see her in New York," said Malcolm, "as long as we didn't go to the school. She said she didn't want to introduce us." Malcolm shrugged as if to say, Isn't that just the way you'd think she'd be? And everyone at the table nodded, as if he had spoken those words aloud.
"She's going to be homesick way up there," predicted Billy Bronze.
"Lilah?" exclaimed Miriam.
"You were," said Elinor quickly, "when you went away to school, and you were only fifty miles away in Mobile. Grace said that when she went down there to see you, you had been crying yourself to sleep every night."
"I don't remember that," said Miriam.
"Yes, you do," said Oscar. "I never saw anybody so glad to get home that first Thanksgiving."
"You'd better keep an eye on Lilah," suggested Billy. "You'd better make sure she's happy up there."
"I don't want to always be on her back," said Miriam, shaking her head. "She'd think I was trying to interfere."
"Just make sure you go up to New York as often as you can," said Elinor, ignoring her daughter's reasoning. "Keep an eye on her. Malcolm, you can go up there sometimes on your own. Don't make it seem as if you're going to see her, pretend you're delivering papers or something. Buy her some new clothes."
"She'll like that," Malcolm said nodding.
The Caskeys needn't have worried. Lilah got along quite well on her own. She was happy to see Miriam or Malcolm or Billy when any of them was in New York, and once she even went so far as to introduce Miriam to her roommate. She came home at Thanksgiving and Christmas and spring holidays that first year, but spent the summer traveling in Europe. She studiously avoided seeing Danjo, even though his son was a graf.
Her second year at Barnard, she moved into an apartment on the East Side, and thereafter Miriam and Malcolm stayed at the Carlysle, only
Malcolm took a big gulp of his first drink.
"Have you told Miriam?" he asked apprehensively.
"Nobody knows except you."
"Listen, honey," said Malcolm. "Everybody in Per-dido is gone be real upset when you don't come back with us. Have you thought of that?"
"I don't have time to go back to Perdido, Malcolm. I told you, freshman orientation is on Monday."
"Hey, I guess you knew about this when you came up here."
"Of course I did. I've known about this for months. I was going to have to come up here this weekend anyway. It was just luck that you and Miriam had to go at the same time."
"But why didn't you say goodbye to everybody when you went away?"
"Because I didn't want everybody slobbering over me," said Lilah. "So don't you start either, Malcolm. Here comes your other drink."
It was Malcolm who told Miriam of Lilah's plans that evening when Miriam got back to the hotel.
Lilah sat on the edge of the bed in the next room waiting to be called in. She was, quickly enough.
"Well," Miriam said curtly, "have you seen your dorm room?"
"No, ma'am," said Lilah. "They don't open until Monday."
"I bet it's a two-by-four. Mine was. Don't you want an apartment?"
"Let me stay in the dorm for a while, then I'll see," said Lilah.
"Are there sororities at Barnard?" Miriam asked.
"No, ma'am. And I don't care. I'm too old for that kind of nonsense."
"Do you want Malcolm and me to wait until Monday and make sure you get in all right?"
"Great God, no!" cried Lilah, who shuddered at the thought of her adoptive parents appearing with her at her first day at college. Then she relented, "Well, stay until Sunday night, and then fly back. Pay the bill here so I can stay until Monday morning, and I'll be fine."
And so it was done. Only Tommy Lee was surprised when Miriam and Malcolm returned from New York without Lilah. It was just about the kind of thing the family expected from the girl. Elinor's dinner table, scarcely recovered from the absence of Queenie, seemed abysmally shrunken.
"Did you ask her," said Oscar at dinner, "if she is ever gone let us see her again?"
"She said we could go up and see her in New York," said Malcolm, "as long as we didn't go to the school. She said she didn't want to introduce us." Malcolm shrugged as if to say, Isn't that just the way you'd think she'd be? And everyone at the table nodded, as if he had spoken those words aloud.
"She's going to be homesick way up there," predicted Billy Bronze.
"Lilah?" exclaimed Miriam.
"You were," said Elinor quickly, "when you went away to school, and you were only fifty miles away in Mobile. Grace said that when she went down there to see you, you had been crying yourself to sleep every night."
"I don't remember that," said Miriam.
"Yes, you do," said Oscar. "I never saw anybody so glad to get home that first Thanksgiving."
"You'd better keep an eye on Lilah," suggested Billy. "You'd better make sure she's happy up there."
"I don't want to always be on her back," said Miriam, shaking her head. "She'd think I was trying to interfere."
"Just make sure you go up to New York as often as you can," said Elinor, ignoring her daughter's reasoning. "Keep an eye on her. Malcolm, you can go up there sometimes on your own. Don't make it seem as if you're going to see her, pretend you're delivering papers or something. Buy her some new clothes."
"She'll like that," Malcolm said nodding.
The Caskeys needn't have worried. Lilah got along quite well on her own. She was happy to see Miriam or Malcolm or Billy when any of them was in New York, and once she even went so far as to introduce Miriam to her roommate. She came home at Thanksgiving and Christmas and spring holidays that first year, but spent the summer traveling in Europe. She studiously avoided seeing Danjo, even though his son was a graf.
Her second year at Barnard, she moved into an apartment on the East Side, and thereafter Miriam and Malcolm stayed at the Carlysle, only
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