you?â
âIâI think so. Yes, Iâm sure of it.â
âWhat does he do?â
âWhatâs he look like?â
âWhatâs his name?â
âWhen are we going to see him?â
âWhy havenât you invited him to have dinner with us so we can get a look at him?â
âHeâs old-fashioned about these things. He feels that if he should come to dinner here with my parents, itâs like announcing our engagement.â
âWell, whatâs wrong with announcing your engagement if youâre serious?â
âWhereâd you meet him?â
âHow long have you known him?â
âI met him when I was still at school and he was doing graduate work at Harvard. We met at a party and we went out together a few times. He didnât have much time. He was working on his thesis and studying for his orals. And he didnât have much money either, I suspect. Then I bumped into him in town one day, and he asked me to have dinner with him. And weâve been seeing each other ever since.â
âBut what does he do?â her father insisted.
âHeâs a teacher,â she said defensively. âHeâs a professor, an assistant professor of English at Windermere Christian.â
âWindermere Christian?â
âWindermere Christian is nonsectarian, you know. And his name is Mordecai Jacobs.â
Further questioning elicited the information that right now he was uncertain of his future; and that while it had been hinted to him by the head of the department that he would in all probability get tenure at the end of the year, heâd prefer to wait until he had actually received it.
âBut we want to see him,â her mother urged. âAll right, I can understand about his reluctance to come to dinner here, sort of. But I have an idea. Why doesnât he come to Benâs Bar Mitzvah party Saturday night? The whole family will be here, but thereâll also be a lot of friends of the family, so his presence wonât be noticed.â
âI had the same idea,â said Clara, âand I sent him an invitation. The trouble is that the Windermere faculty is having a dinner that same night, and it was intimated to him that he ought to be there. Itâs going to be held at the Breverton Country Club. He thinks he might be able to get away early, but he canât promise.â
Later, alone with Clara in her bedroom, Mrs. Lerner asked, âWhatâs he like? Is he tall? Is he good-looking?â
âHe is to me,â said Clara stoutly. âHeâs not tall, but heâs not short either. Sort of medium. At least, I donât have to tilt my head back to talk to him. And heâs not, you know, movie-actor handsome, but heâs nice-looking. Heâs nice and warm and friendly, and fun to be with, and Iâm going to marry him.â
âHave you met his folks? Are they from around here?â
âNo, he comes from a small town in Pennsylvania, soââ
âBut he wants you to meet them, doesnât he?â
âSure, but where they live so far away, it will have to wait until we can arrange it.â
âBut heâs right here,â Mrs. Lerner insisted, âso thereâs no reason why we canât meet him. Now look, Clara, I want you to tell him that he can come to see us Saturday night, no matter how late his faculty dinner ends. Thereâll be people here even after midnight.â
âAll right, Iâll tell him.â
15
As the rabbi and Miriam dawdled over their second cup of coffee at breakfast, the mail came, and Miriam went to gather it up from the floor beneath the chute. As she came back to the table she said, âThe usual junk mail: a couple of mail-order catalogues, pleas for donations from the local public broadcasting station and fromâletâs seeâfrom Support the Children, AIDS research, and the Heart Fund: a chance to win a
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