Free Time Will Darken It by William Maxwell Page B

said, “Thank you, Miss Ewing.”
    If he doesn’t want to be interrupted, she said to herself as she sat down at her desk in the outer office, all he has to do is say so.
    She knew perfectly well that he would never tell her not to come in when the door was closed, and so long as he didn’t tell her, some perverse impulse drove her to break in upon him with details that could just as well wait. At times, when Miss Ewing was overtired, she considered the possibility of getting a position elsewhere, though she knew that there was no office in Draperville where she would receive as much consideration or be paid anything like her present salary.
    The outer door opened and Herb Rogers came in. Miss Ewing did not waste on him the smile that was reserved for clients.
    “I’m selling tickets for a benefit at the opera house,” he said hesitantly.
    “Mr. Holby has someone in his office,” Miss Ewing said, “but if you’d like to see Mr. King——”
    “I don’t want to bother him if he’s busy. I can come back later.”
    “It’s all right,” Miss Ewing said cheerfully. “You can go in.”

4
    Sit down, won’t you?
the rubber cousin said.
You’re rocking the boat
.
    I never try to make my children mind
, the elephant cousin said.
    I wish you’d tell me how you manage
, the rubber cousin said.
    Oh I don’t know
, the elephant cousin said.
I give them presents from the ten cent store. They manage the rest
.
    I give Humphrey lots of presents
, said the mother.
    That’s news to me
, said Humphrey.
    Well I don’t know whether it is or not
, said the mother.
    Sit down, Edward, before I slap you
, said the rubber cousin.
    My name isn’t Edward
, Humphrey said.
    “From now on, it is,” Ab said.
    Well my advice
, said the father,
would be to go out in the kitchen and see what there is to eat. Wash your hands, everybody
.
    The telephone began to ring and Ab made no move to answer it. She didn’t even seem aware of the ringing on the other side of the room, but the doll party on the window seat was suspended when Martha King came into the study and took the receiver off the hook.
    “Yes?… Oh yes, Bud … no, we haven’t.…”
    Ab always enjoyed listening to her mother on the telephone. Where grown-up conversations were concerned, the half was usually more interesting than the whole.
    “Yes …” her mother said several times into the telephone.“Well I’m afraid it’s going to be very warm, but just let me ask them.…” Martha King put the receiver on the telephone stand and left the study. Ab turned back to her dolls.
    Hot cocoa
, said Humphrey, whose name was now Edward.
    And crackers with white icing on them
, the father said.
    That’s a good idea
, the elephant cousin said.
Whose idea was it?
    That was my idea
, said the mother.
    Martha King came back and said, “Bud?… We’d like to very much … yes.… All right, I will … good-bye.”
    With a brief, absent-minded glance at the dolls lined up in a row on the window-sill, she went through the living-room and out onto the porch. The doll party came to a sudden end.
    “… and the terrible part of it was,” Mrs. Potter was saying as Ab opened the screen door, “they seemed so happy!”
    She had taken possession, for the rest of the visit, of a wicker armchair that just suited her. The chair commanded a view of the sidewalk and the street, and the right armrest was designed to hold magazines or a knitting bag. Mrs. Potter kept her silk bag with the round raffia base in her lap. The bag contained crocheting and it went everywhere Mrs. Potter went. Mr. Potter kept the swing in motion with his foot. Nora was out in the side yard reading a book, with her head bowed to the white page.
    “So Rebecca came home with a six-months-old baby,” Mrs. Potter said, “and she’s been home ever since.… Daughter, you oughtn’t to be out there on the damp ground. Cousin Martha will give you a blanket to sit on.”
    “It isn’t damp,” Nora called