Free Music in the Night by V. C. Andrews Page A

their
bank accounts become."
"But . . . didn't you ever like anyone who wasn't
from an old and respectable family, Grandma? Not
even when you were growing up?"
"Of course not," she said. "I wouldn't permit
myself to like someone like that."
"That's not something you can permit yourself
to do and not to do, Grandma," I said, smiling. "It's
something magical. Surely, when you were my age--
"
"I was never a foolish young woman, Laura,
never like any of these empty-headed girls nowadays.
My father wouldn't have tolerated it anyway,
especially with my sister being such a disgrace. It
would have destroyed him if both his daughters . . ."
She paused to pull herself up tight again. "This is all
beside the point. We're not here to discuss my past;
we're here to discuss your future and the future of the
family's reputation," she insisted.
"Can't you remember what it was like to be my
age? You couldn't have worried about all this back
then."
"Of course I worried about all this." She shook
her head. '1 knew I should have taken more of a role
in your upbringing. Sara . . . Sara is just not equipped
and she has too much to do with your crippled sister." "May is not crippled, Grandma. She has a
handicap, but it hasn't stopped her from being a good
student and doing most of the things other young girls
her age can do. She's very helpful around the house, does her chores, looks after her own things. She's far from a burden to Mommy, Grandma. If you would just let me teach you some sign language, you could talk with her directly and see for yourself how bright
and wonderful she is."
"Ridiculous. I have no time for that sort of
thing. Besides, you all shield her too much because of
this . . . this imperfection. She should be made to
expect no favors and she certainly shouldn't be
babied. Only then will she have the strength to stand
up to her deformity."
"It's not a deformity," I insisted. "And May is
smart and strong enough to live a good life with her
handicap."
"I didn't bring you out here to waste time on
this topic, Laura. I brought you out here to give you
the benefit of my years of wisdom and my sense of
family responsibility. Unfortunately;i am the one who
has to have all the strength in this family. Your
grandfather is becoming more and more forgetful. I'm
afraid he's falling into his dotage and will end up in a
rest home sooner rather than later."
"Grandpa? He looks wonderful."
"You don't live with him," she replied dryly.
"Anyway, I hope you have heard some of what I have
said and will behave properly, doing the right thing." "I like Robert Royce, Grandma. I'm not going
to hurt him by telling him he's not good enough for
the Logans," said softly, but firmly.
She stared at me a moment and then slowly
shook her head.
"I expected more from you, Laura. You leave
me no choice but to speak to your father about this." I felt the tears come to my eyes.
"Daddy likes Robert, too," I said, but I knew
how strong my mother's influence was on my father.
Usually, her words were like Gospel. "Please don't
say anything bad about him."
"If I have your word that you will not do
anything hasty or foolish with this person," she said.
"Too many young people today think nothing of
embarrassing their families."
"Of course, I won't."
"Very well. We'll see how things progress.
Someday, you will be grateful for what I've said to
you today, Laura. You'll look back and laugh at
yourself for being so foolish."
She looked confident of that, but inside, I
thought, No, Grandma, never be grateful for your
telling me that magic between people is merely emptyheaded foolishness. I'll never be grateful for your
telling me that people have to be judged by their
family lineage instead of the content of their
character, that status is more important than
anything, even honest feelings. No, Grandma, I won't
be grateful; I'll always be full of pity, and not for
myself but for you.
I said none of this, of course. Instead, I sat
silently watching her look toward the beach where