Free Odd Girl by Artemis Smith Page A

been.
    Anne looked out of the windows. The garden outside seemed larger than it was and filled with sweet-smelling roses, ferns and moss like those of a cloister. There was enough space between the buildings for her to see the skyscrapers reflecting the sun. She was impatient for Esther. She did not belong in this room full of men.
    "Are we boring you?" Carl broke into her thoughts.
    "I was thinking of Esther," Anne said.
    "A pity she can't be here," Carl said, "but at least let me try to entertain you. Would you like to see the rest of the house?"
    Anne nodded, being innately polite. Carl reached for the bell and rang for the maid. A few seconds later the thin, small servant appeared at the door.
    "Will you show them where the elevator is?" Carl said. "I want them to see the house." The maid nodded and waited for Jacques and Anne to follow her.
    "Jacques, you take her around," Carl said. "I'll stay here and see about lunch being served."
    Jacques took Anne's arm and they followed the maid.
    They went through the dark hallway again and reached the small, coffin-like elevator, where the maid left them after giving instructions about running it. Jacques and Anne crowded in and traveled slowly to the top floor.
    "How do you like him?" Jacques said excitedly.
    "You like him more than I do," Anne teased. Then she added, "He's really quite rare."
    "I wish to hell he didn't drink so much," Jacques said. "He's really quite ill."
    "Is that why he left the Navy?" Anne asked.
    "No," he said, "he was kicked out. For being gay." There was a short pause and then he added, "His father was an admiral."
    They reached the top floor and began systematically to look at all the rooms.
    Carl's house was not uniformly decorated. He had a blue room, a red room, a Chinese room with all its hideous ornateness, a medieval room of simplicity, a colonial room, an ultra-modern room, a Victorian, a Louis XIVth like a huge museum—and not one room for living. Finally they reached the very back of the house and Jacques paused meaningfully. "That's Esther's room," he said.
    Anne was bursting with curiosity, but she decided it would not be right to enter; she would wait until Esther invited her. They moved on, finally finding their way back to the first floor, and followed their noses to the dining room.
    Anne was more impatient than ever. Esther's room, Esther's door, such a plain door, not in keeping with the other decor, had made her restless. She wanted to leave, to walk a long distance by herself—to do anything but be with Carl and Jacques when she wanted so much to be with Esther. But Carl was fussing with the table, making lunch ready for them; she could not leave.
    "Seen everything?" he greeted their return.
    "Just about," Jacques said.
    "Good, soup's on," he said, and sat with great appetite at the head of the oak table. Anne let herself be helped into the chair by the small maid and Jacques sat too, each on either side of Carl.
    The dining room was even more elaborate than the rest of the house, with antique silver gleaming on the magnificently carved, many-drawered side-board standing with majestic and dark severity between red velvet curtains. The room was somber and the chandelier above the dining table gave light which was largely absorbed by the demands of ancient tapestries on the walls around them.
    "I hope you don't mind turtle soup," Carl said, serving from the bowl that the maid had brought in.
    "Not at all," Anne said. He had revived her interest. She wondered if homemade turtle soup was better than the soup in cans. Eating had always been one of the pleasures of life for her and now it almost compensated for the lack of Esther. She tried a spoonful and said, "It's very good."
    "Fine," Carl said. "You must come to lunch often." Then he added, "As a matter of fact, why not tomorrow? Esther will be here, and we can all hear Bach."
    Anne was pleasantly surprised and said thank you. Jacques winked at her reassuringly. "Where is Esther now?"