"Ye gods, if that's not the truth," said Rhoda, laughing. Janice gave Byron a slow female blink. He was even handsomer than Warren, she thought. His eyes had an eager aroused sparkle. She kissed him. have nothing to offer," said the grainy strong singsong voice out of the radio, slurring10 the consonants11 almost like a drunken man, 'but blood, toil12, tears, and sweat." 'y, he's a genius!" Rhoda exclaimed. She sat on the edge of a frail13 gilt14 chair in Kirby's suite15, champagne16 glass in hand, tears in her eyes. "Where has he been till now?" Smearing17 caviar from a blue Russian-printed tin on a bit of toast, and carefully sprinkling onion shreds18, Byron said, "He was running the British Navy when Prien got into Scapa Flow and sank the Royal Oak. And when the Germans crossed the Skagerrak to Norway." "Shut up and listen," Victor Henry said. Janice glanced from the son to the father, crossed her long legs, and sipped20 champagne. Palmer Kirby's eyes flickered21 appreciatively at her legs, which pleased her. He was an interesting-looking old dog. ... You ask, what is our policy? I will say, it is to wage 'War, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a nwnstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable22 catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, tvhat is our aim? I can answer in one mid23: Victory-victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror... I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail atwng men..." The speech ended. An American voice said with a cough and tremor24, 'Tow have just heard the newly appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain) Winston Churchill." After a moment, Rhoda said, "That man will save civilization. We're going to get in now. The Germans overplayed their hand. We'll never let them conquer England. There's something strangely thick about the Germans, you know? One must observe them close up for a long time to understand that. Strangely thick." Victor Henry said to Dr, Kirby, glancing at his watch, "Quite a speech. Can we talk now for a few minutes?" Kirby got to his feet and Rhoda smiled at him. "Champagne, caviar, and business as usual. That's Pug." "We're just waiting for Madeline," Pug said.
"Come along," Kirby said, walking into the bedroom. 'Say, Dad, I'm going to have to mosey along," Byron said. "There is this plane to Miami I have to catch. It leaves La Guardia in about an hour." 'What! Dr. Kirby thinks you're dining with him." 'Vefl, see, I made the reservation before I knew about this dinner." "You're not waiting till Madeline comes? You haven't seen her in two years. She's taking us all to her show after dinner." "I think I'd better go, Dad." Abruptly27, Pug left the room. 'Briny, you're impossible," his mother said. "Couldn't you have waited until tomorrow?" "Mom, do you remember what it's like to be in love?" Rhoda surprised him and Janice Lacouture by turning blood red. "Me? My goodness, Byron, what a thing to say! Of course not, I'm a million years old." 'Thank you for my Marvelous pin." Janice touched the elephant on her shoulder. "That must be some girl, in Miami." Byron's blank narrow-eyed look dissolved in a charming smile and an admiring glance at her. 'She's all right." 'Bring her to the wedding with you. Don't forget." As Byron went to the door, Rhoda said, "You have a real talent for disappointing your father." 'He'd be disappointed if I didn't disappoint him. Good-bye, Mom." In the bedroom Dr. Kirby sat at a desk, checking off a stack of journals and mimeographed reports that Victor Henry had brought him from Germany. As be scribbled28 in a yellow notebook, the little desk shook and two reports slid to the floor. "They must rent this suite to midgets," he said continuing to write. Victor Henry said, "Fred, are you working on a uranium bomb?" Kirby's hand paused. He turned, hanging one long loose arm over the back of his chair, and looked into Henry's eyes. The silence and the steady look between the men lasted a long time. "You can just tell me it's none of my goddamn business, but"-Pug sat on the bed-'all that stuff there zeroes in on the uranium business. And some of the things I couldn't get, like the graphite figures, why, the Germans told me flatly that they were classified because of the secret bomb aspects. The Germans are fond of talking very loosely about this terrible ultra-bomb they're developing. That made me think there was nothing much to it. But that list of requests you sent gave me second thoughts." Kirby knocked out his pipe, stuffed it, and lit it. The process took a couple of minutes, during which he didn't talk, but looked at Captain Henry. He said slowly, "I'm not a chemist, and thisuranium thing is more or less a chemical engineering problem. Electricity does come into it for production techniques. A couple of months ago I was approached to be an industrial consultant29." "What's the status of the thing?" "All theory. Years away from any serious effort." "Do you mind telling me about it?" "Why not? It's in the college physics books. Hell, it's been in Life magazine. There's this process, neutron31 bombardment. You expose one chemical substance and another to the emanations of radium, and see what happens. It's been going on for years, in Europe and here. Well, these two Germans tried it on uranium ode last year, and they produced barium. Now that's transmutation of elements by atom-splitting. I guess you know about the fantastic charge of energy packed in the mass of the atom. You've heard about driving a steamship32 across the ocean on one lump of coal, if you could only harness the atomic energy in it, and so forth33." Victor Henry nodded. "Well, Pug, this was a hint that it might really be done with uranium. It was an atom-splitting process that put out far more energy than they'd used to cause it. These Germans discovered that by weighing the masses involved. There'd been an appreciable34 loss of mass. They published their finding, and the whole scientific community's been in an uproar35 ever since. "Okay, the next step is, there's this rare hot isotope36 of uranium, u-235. This substance may Turn out to have gigantic explosive powers, through a chain reaction that gives you a huge release of energy from mass. A handful maybe can blow up a city, that sort of talk. The nuclear boys say it may be practicable right now, if industry will just come up with enough Pure U-235-" Pug listened to all this with his mouth compressed, his body tensed forward. "Uh-huh, uh-huh," he kept saying when Kirby puffed37 on his Pipe. He pointed25 a stiff finger at the engineer. "Well, I follow all that. This is vital military intelligence." Kirby shook his head. "Hardly. It's public knowledge. It may be a complete false alarm. These chemical engineers don't guarantee anything. And what they want will take one hell of a big industrial effort to deliver. Maybe the stuff will explode, maybe it won't. Maybe as soon as you have enough of it, it'll all fly apart. Nobody knows. Five minutes of scratch pad work shows that you're talking about an expenditure38 of many many millions of dollars. It could run up to a billion and then you could end up with a crock of horseshit. Congress is on an economy rampage. They've been refusing Roosevelt the money for a couple of hundred new airplanes." "I'll ask you a couple of more questions. If I'm off base, tell me." "Shoot.""Where do you come into it?" Kirby rubbed his pipe against his chin. "Okay, how do you separate out isotopes39 of a very rare metal in industrial quantities? One notion is to shoot it in the form of an ionized gas through a magnetic field. The lighter40 ions get deflected41 a tiny bit more, so you stream 'em out and catch them. The whole game depends on the magnetic field being kept stable, because any wavering jumbles42 up the ion stream. Precise control of voltages is my business." "Uh-huh. Now. One last point. If an occasion arises, should I volunteer my valued opinion to the President that he should get off his ass8 about uranium?" Kirby uttered a short baritone laugh. "The real question here is the Germans. How far along are they? This cuteness of theirs about pure graphite disturbs me. Graphite comes into the picture at a late stage. If Hitler gets uranium bombs first, Pug, and if they happen to work, that could prove disagreeable." A doorbell rang. 'I guess that's your daughter," Kirby said. "Let's go down to dinner." Madeline arrived in a black tailored suit with a flaring43 jacket and a tight sheath skirt, dark hair swept up on her head. It was hard to think of her as only twenty. Possibly she was putting on the young career woman a bit, but she did have to leave the table in the Empire Room twice, when the headwaiter came and said with a bow that CBS was on the telephone. Victor Henry liked her confident, demure44 manner and her taciturnity. With alert eyes darting45 from face to face, she listened to the talk about Germany and about the wedding plans, and said almost nothing. In the studio building, at the reception desk, a stiff, uniformed youngster awaited them. "Miss Henry's party? This way, please." He took them to a barren low-ceilinged green room where Hugh Cleveland and his staff sat around a table. Briskly cordial, Cleveland invited them to stay in the room till the show started. He was looking at cards, memorizing spontaneous jokes he would make later, and discussing them with his gagman. After a while he snapped a rubber band around the cards and slipped them in his pocket. "Well, five minutes to go," he said, turning to the visitors. "I hear this fellow Churchill gave a pretty good speech. Did you catch it?" "Every word," Rhoda said. "It was shattering- That speech will go down in history." "Quite a speech," Pug said. Madeline said, "Darn, and I was so busy I missed it." The show's producer, who looked forty-five and dressed like a college boy, put a manicured hand to the back of his head. "It was fair. It needed cutting and punching up. Too much tutti-frutti. There was one good line about blood and sweat.""There was? How would that go with the butcher who plays the zither?" Cleveland said to the joke writer at his elbow, a melancholy46 young Jew who needed a haircut. "Could we throw in something about blood and sweat?" The joke writer sadly shook his head. "Bad taste." "Don't be silly, Herbie. Try to think of something. Captain Henry, how's the war going? Will the Gamelin Plan stop the Krauts?" "I don't know what the Gamelin Plan is." Madeline put her guests in privileged seats on the stage of the studio, near the table where Cleveland interviewed the amateurs before a huge cardboard display extolling47 Morning Smile pink laxative salts. She posted herself in the glassed control booth. A large audience, which to Victor Henry seemed composed entirely49 of imbeciles, applauded the stumbling amateurs and roared at Cleveland's jokes. Cleveland ran the program with smooth foxy charm; Pug realized now that Madeline had latched50 herself to a corner. But the show disgusted him. One amateur identified himself as a line repairman. Cleveland remarked, "Well, haw haw, guess they could use you in France right about now." "France, Mr. Cleveland?" "Sure. On that Maginot Line." He winked51 at the audience; they guffawed52 and clapped. "Does this amuse you?" Pug said across Rhoda, in a low tone, to Palmer Kirby. "I never listen to the radio," said the engineer. "It's interesting. Like a visit to a madhouse." "That Cleveland's cute, though," Rhoda said. Madeline came to them after the show, as the audience swarmed54 on stage around Hugh Cleveland seeking his autograph. "Damn, two of our best bits got cut off the air by news bulletins. They're so high-handed, those news people!" "What's happening?" Victor Henry asked. "Oh, it's the war, naturally. just more of the same. The Germans have overrun some new town, and the French are collapsing55, and so on. Nothing very unexpected. Hugh will have a fit when he hears they cut the butcher with the zither." "Miss Henry?" A uniformed page approached her. "Yes?" "Urgent long-distance call, miss, in Mr. Cleveland's office, for Miss Lacouture. From Puerto Rico." On the flying bridge of the fishing boat Blue Bird, rocking gently along at four knots in theGulf Stream, Byron and Natalie lay in each other's arms in the sun. Below, the jowly sunburned skipper yawned at the wheel over a can of beer, and the ship-to-shore telephone dimly crackled and gobbled. From long poles fixed56 in sockets57 at the empty fighting chairs, lines trailed in the water. Sunburned, all but naked in swimming suits, the lovers had forgotten the fish, the lines, and the skipper. They had forgotten death and they had forgotten war. They lay at the center of a circle of dark blue calm water and light blue clear sky. It seemed the sun shone on them alone. The deck echoed with loud rapping from below, four quick knocks like a Morse code V. "Hey, Mr. Henry! You awake?" "Sure, what is it?" Byron called hoarsely58, raising himself on an elbow. "They're calling us from the beach. Your father wants you to come on in." "My father? Wrong boat. He's in Washington." "Wait one-Hello, hello, Blue Bird calling Bill Thomas-" They heard the squawking of the ship-tshore again. "Hey, Mr. Henry. Your fatheris he a naval59 officer, a captain?" "That's right." "Well, the office has your girl's mother on the telephone. Your father's at her house and the message is to get back there pronto." Natalie sat up, her eyes wide and startled. Byron called, "Okay, let's head back." "What on earth?" Natalie exclaimed. "I haven't the foggiest idea." The boat, scoring a green-white circle on the dark sea, picked up speed and started to pitch. The wind tumbled Natalie's long free black hair. She pulled a mirror from a straw basket. "My God, look at me. Look put the back of her hand to her lips. "Well, no use trying to patch up this at that mouth. I look gnawed60. As though the rats had been at me!" She Gorgon's head till we come in. What ran your father want, Briny?" "y are you so alarmed? Probably he's here with my mother, and she wants a look at you. I can't blame her, the way I shot down here. If so, I'm going to tell them, Natalie." Her face turned anxious. She took his hand. "Angel, there's sonic Jewish law about not getting married too soon after a parent dies. Possibly for as long as a year, and-good heavens! Don't make such a face! I'm not going toobserve that. But I can't distress61 my mother at this point. I need some time to figure this out." "I don't want you violating your religion, Natalie, but lord, that's a blow." "Sweetie, I wasn't planning on marrying you until about an hour ago." She shook her head and ruefully laughed. "I feel weird62. Almost disembodied. Too much sun, or maybe I'm just drunk on kisses. And now your father suddenly showing up! Isn't it all like a fever dream?" He put his arm around her shoulders, holding her close as the boat pitched and rocked more. "Not to me. It's damned real, and the realest thing of all is that we're getting married. Reality just seems to be starting." "Yes, no doubt. I certainly don't look forward to writing to LeslieJehosephat, that scowl63 again! You put it on and off like a Halloween mask, it's unnerving-Briny, he came down to see me right after Papa died. He was remarkably64 helpful and kind. A new Slote, just a bit too late. He's been writing to his university friends to find me a teaching job. I wish I knew what your father wanted! Don't tell him about us, Byron. Not till I've talked to my mother." 'You'd better talk to her righi away, then. My father has a way of getting at the facts." "Oh! Oh!" She put both hands to her hair. "I'm so happy, and so confused, and so upset! I'm dizzy. I feel sixteen, which I'm not, God knows! "Better for you if I were." When the Blue Bird drew closer in, Byron got the binoculars65 and scanned the ragged66 row of skyscraper67 hotels along the beach. "I thought so. There he is, waiting on the pier68." Natalie, lounging in one of the chairs, sat bolt upright. "Oh, no. You're sure?" "Right there, pacing back and forth. I know that walk." She seized her basket and darted69 into the cabin, saying to the skipper, "Slow down, please." might, miss." The bewhiskered man, with a grin, pulled back on the throttle70. She closed the little door to the forward cabin. Soon she emerged in a cotton skirt and white blouse, her black hair brushed gleaming and loose to her shoulders. "I'm seasick," she said to Byron, wanly71 smiling. "Try putting on eyebrows72 and a mouth sometime in a rocking boat, in a hot little cabin. Whew! Am I green? I feel green." "You look wonderful." The boat was wallowing half a mile from the pier. Natalie could see the man in blue walking up and down. "Full steam ahead," she said shakily. "Damn the torpedoes73." Victor Henry, leaning down from the tar-smelling pier, held out a hand as the boat stopped. "Hello, Natalie. This is a helluva thing to do to you. Watch it, don't step on that nail."Byron leaped ashore74. "What's up, Dad? Is everybody all right?" "Have you two had lunch?" Pug said. They looked at each other, and Natalie nervously75 laughed. "I did pack sandwiches. There in this basket. We, well, I cion't know, we forgot. An amused look came and went in Victor Henry's eyes, though his face remained stern. "Uhhuh. Well, the smells from that joint76 there"-he pointed with his thumb at a dilapidated clam77 bar on the pier-"have been driving me nuts, but I thought I'd wait for you. I haven't eaten yet tcday." 'Please come to my house. I'd love to fix you something." "Your mother was kind enough to give me orange juice and coffee. D'you mind if we go in here? These waterfront places can be pretty good." They sat in a tiny plywood booth painted bright red. Byron and his father ordered clam chowder. 'I've never learned to like that stuff," Natalie said to the waiter. 'Can I have a bacon and tomato sandwich?" "Sure, miss." Victor Henry looked oddly at her. "What's the matter?" she said. "You're not fussy78 about what you eat." She looked puzzled. "Oh. You mean the bacon? Not in the least, I'm afraid. Many Jews aren't." "How about your mother?" "Well, she has some vague and inconsistent scruples79. I can never quite follow them." "We had quite a chat. She's a clever woman, and holding up remarkably, after her loss. Well!" Pug put cigarettes and lighter on the table. "It looks like France is really folding, doesn't it? Have you heard the radio this morning? In Paris they're burning papers. The BEF is high-tailing it for the Channel, but it may already he too late. The Germans may actually bag the entire British regular army." "Good God," Byron said. "If they do that the war's over! How could this happen in three days?" "Well, it has. While I was waiting for you I heard the President on my car radio, making an emergency address to a joint session of Congress. He's asked them for fifty thousand airplanes a year." "Fifty thousand a year?" exclaimed Natalie. "Fifty thousand? Why, that's just wild talk.""He said we'd have to build the factories to Turn 'em out, and then start making 'em. In the mood I saw in Washington yesterday, he's going to get the money, too. The panic is finally on, up there. They've come awake in a hu " rryByron said, "None of this can help England or France." "No. Not in this battle. What COngress is starting to think about is the prospect80 of us on our own, against Hitler and the Japanese. Now." Pug lit a cigarette, and began ticking off points against spread stiff fingers. "Warren's thirty-day leave has been cancelled. The wedding's been moved up. Warren and Janice are getting married tomorrow. They'll have a oneday honeymoon81, and then he goes straight out to the Pacific Fleet. So. Number one: You've got to get to Pensacola by tomorrow at ten." With a hesitant look at Natalie, who appeared dumbfounded, Byron said, "All right, I'll be there." "Okay. Number two: If you want to get into that May 27 class at sub school, you've got to report to New London and take the physical by Saturday." "Can't I take a physical at Pensacola?" The father pursed his lips. "I never thought of that. Maybe I can get Red Tully to stretch a point. He's already doing that, holding this place open for you. The applications are piling up now for that school." "May 27?" Natalie said to Byron. "that's eleven days from now! Are You going to submarine school in eleven days?" "I don't know. it's a possibility." She turned to his father. "How long is the school?" "It's three months." 'What will become of him afterward82?" My guess is he'll go straight out to the fleet, like Warren. The n",? lubs are just starting to come on the line." "Three months! And then you'll be gone!" Natalie exclaimed, "Well, we'll talk about all that," Byron said. "Will you come with me to the wedding tomorrow?" "Me? I don't know. I wasn't invited.""Janice asked me to bring you." "She did? When? You never told me that." Byron turned to his father, "Look, when does the submarine course after this one begin?" 'I don't know. But the sooner you start, the better. It takes you thirteen more months at sea to get your dolphins. There's nothing tougher than qualifying in submarines, Briny. A flier has an easier job." Byron took one of his father's cigarettes, lit it, inhaled83 deeply, and said as he exhaled84 a gray cloud, 'Natalie and I are getting married." With an appraising85 glance at Natalie, who was biting her lower lip, Victor Henry said, "I see. Well, that might or might not affect your admittance to the school. I hadn't checked that point, not knowing of this development. In general, unmarried candidates get the preference in such situations. Still, maybe the thing to do-' Natalie broke in, "Captain Henry, I realize it creates many difficulties. We only decided86 this morning. I myself don't know when or how. It's a fearful tangle87." Looking at her from under his eyebrows as he ate, Pug nodded. "There are no difficulties that can't be overcome," said Byron. "J-isten, darling," Natalie said, "the last thing I'll ever do is stop you from going to submarine school. My God, I was in Warsaw!" Byron smoked, his face blank, his eyes narrowed at his father. Victor Henry looked at his wristwatch and gathered up his cigarettes and lighter. "Well, that's that. Great chowder. Hits the spot. Say, there's a plane to Pensacola that I can still make this afternoon." "Why didn't you just telephone all this?" Byron said. "It would have been simple enough. Why did you come here?" Victor Henry waved the check and a ten-dollar bill at the waiter. "You took off like a rocket, Byron. I didn't know your plans or your state of mind. I wasn't even sure you'd agree to come to the wedding." "Why, I wouldn't have heard of his staying away," Natalie said. "Well, I didn't know that either. I thought I ought to be available to talk to both of you, and maybe answer questions, and use a little persuasion88 if necessary." He added to Natalie, "Janice and Warren do expect you. That I can tell you." She put a hand to her forehead. "I just don't know if I can come." "We'll be there," Byron said flatly. "Or at least I will. Does that take care of everything?"Pug hesitated. "What about sub school? I told Red I'd call him today." "If Captain Tully has to know today, then I'm out. All right?" Natalie struck the table with her fist. "Damn it, Byron. Don't make decisions like that." "I don't know any other way to make decisions." "You can talk to me. I'm involved." Victor Henry cleared his throat. "Well, I've spoken my piece and I'll shove off. We can pick this topic up tomorrow." "Oh?" Byron's tone was acid. 'Then you don't really have to call Captain Tully today, after all." Victor Henry's face darkened. He leaned back in the hard seat. "See here, Byron. Hitler and the Germans are creating your problem. I'm not. I'm calling it to your attention." "Well, all this bad news from Europe may be highly exaggerated, and in any case, no American submarine will ever fail to sail because I'm not in it." "Oh, be quiet, Briny," Natalie said in a choked voice. "Let your father catch his plane." "Just keep remembering I didn't start this war, Byron," Victor Henry said, in almost the tone he had used on the waiter in Wannsee, picking his white cap off a peg90 while looking his son in the face. "I think you'd make a good submariner. They're all a bunch of goofy individualists. On the other hand, I can't hate you for wanting to marry this brilliant and beautiful young lady. And now I'm getting the hell out of here." Victor Henry stood. "See you in church. Get there early, you'll be best man. Wear your dark suit.-Good-bye, Natalie. Sorry I broke up your day on the boat. Try to come to Pensacola." "Yes, sir." A sad little smile lit her worried face. Thank you." When he went out, she turned to Byron. "I have always loathed91 the smell of cooking fish. Let's get out of here. I was half sick during all that. God knows how I've kept from shooting my cookies." Natalie strode seaward along the wharf92, taking deep gulps93 of air, her skirt fluttering on her swinging hips94, the thin blouse wind-flattened on her breasts, her black hair flying. Byron hurried after her. She stopped short at the end of the wharf, where two ragged Negro boys satfishing, and turned on him, her arms folded. 'y the devil did you treat your father like that?" "Like what? I know why he came here, that's all," Byron returned with equal sharpness. "He came to separate us." His voice rang and twanged much like Victor Henry's. 'Oh, take me home. Straight home. He was utterly95 right, you know. You're blaming him for the way the war is going. That's the essence of immaturity96. I was embarrassed for you. I hated that feeling." They walked back up the pier to her father's new blue Buick sedan, glittering and baking in the sun, giving off heat like a stove. "Open an the doors, please. Let some air blow through, or we'll die in there!" Byron said as he went from door to door, "I have never wanted anything before, not of life, not of him, not of anybody. Now I do." "Even if it's true, you still have to look at reality, not throw tantrums.)' "He did quite a job on you," said Byron. "He usually gets anything done that he intends to." They climbed into the car. "That's how much you know," she said harshly, slamming her door as he whirred the motor. 'I'm coming to Pensacola with you. All right? I love you. Now shut up and drive me home." IL With a groan97, to the clatter98 of an old tin alarm clock, Lieutenant99 Warren Warren Henry woke at seven on his wedding day. Until four he had been in the sweet arms of his bride-to-be in a bedroom of the Calder Arms Hotel, some twenty miles from Pensacola. He stumbled to the shower and turned on the cold water in a gush100. As the needling shock brought him to, he wearily wondered whether spending such a night before his wedding morning hadn't been somewhat gross, Poor Janice had said she would have to start dressing101 and packing as soon as she got home. Yes, certainly gross, but ye gods! Warren laughed aloud, hemid up his face to the cold water, and started to sing. It was rough, after all-a rushed wedding, a one-night honeymoon, and then a separation of thousands of miles! Too much to ask of human nature. Anyway, it wasn't the first time. Still-Warren was drying himself with a big rough towel, and cheering up by the 'minute-there was such a thing as propriety103. Such doings on the wedding eve were ill-timed. But it was rotten luck to be torn away from her like this. It was just one of those things, and Hitler's invasion of France was the real cause, not any looseness in himself or Janice.
Truth to tell, the prospect of parting from Janice was not bothering Warren much. She would be coming along to Pearl Harbor in due course. The sudden orders to the Pacific had put him in an excited glow. Cramming104 in a premature105 night with Janice had been an impulse of this new bursting love of life he felt. He was rushing to fly a fighter plane from the U-S-S. EnterPrise, because war threatened. It was a star-spangled destiny, a scary ride to the moon. For all his mental motions of regret at leaving Janice, and remorse106 at having enjoyed her a little too soon and a little too much, Warren's spirit was soaring. He called the mess steward107, ordered double ham and eggs and a jug108 of coffee, and gaily109 set about dressing for his nuptials110. Byron, standing in the hall outside his brother's room, smiled at a rlude cartoon tacked111 to the door: Father Neptune112, a lump throbbing113 on his pate114, wrathuly rising from the sea ahead of an aircraft carrier, brandishing115 his trident at an airplane with dripping wheels, out of which the pilot leaned, saluting116 and shouting, "So sorry!" "Come in!" Warren called to his knock. "'Wet Wheels' Henry, I presume?" Byron quoted the cartoon caption117. "Briny! Hey! My Christ, how long has it been? Well, you look great! God, I'm glad you made it for the wedding." Warren ordered more breakfast for his brother. "Listen, you've got to tell me all about that wild trip of yours. I'm supposed to be the warrior118, but Jesus, you're the one who's had the adventures. Why, you've been bombed and strafed by the Nazis119! My buddies120 will sure want to talk to you." "Nothing heroic about getting in the way of a war, Warren." "Let's hear about it. Sit down, we have a lot to catch up on." They talked over the food, over coffee, over cigars, and as Warren packed they kept talking, awkwardly at first, then loosening up. Each was taking the other's measure. Warren was older, heavier in the face, more confident, more than ever on top of the world and ahead of his brother: so Byron felt. Those new gold wings on his white dress uniform seemed to Byron to spread a foot. About flying Warren was relaxed, humorous, and hard. He had mastered the machines and the lingo121, and the jokes about his mishaps123 didn't obscure the leap upward. He still spoke89 the words naval aviator124" with pride and awe53. To Byron, his own close calls under fire had been stumblebum episodes, in no way comparable to Warren's disciplined rise to fighter pilot. For his part, Warren had last seen Byron setting off to Europe, a hangdog slouching youngster with a bad school record and not a few pimples125, already cooling off about a career in fine arts.
Byron's skin now stretched brown and clear over a sharpened jaw126; his eyes were deeper; he sat up straighter. Warren was used to the short haircuts and natural shoulder lines of the Navy. Byron's padded dark Italian suit and mop of reddish hair gave him a dashing appearance that went with his saga127 of roaming in Poland under German bombs with a beautiful jewess. Warren had never before envied his younger brother anything. He envied the red stitch-marked scar on his temple-his own scar was a mishap122, not a war wound-and he even somewhat envied him the jewess, sight unseen. "What about Natalie, Byron? Did she come?" "Sure. I parked her at Janice's house. That was decent of Janice, telephoning her last night. Did Dad put her up to it?" "He just said the girl wasn't sure she was expected. Say, that thing's serious, is it?" Warren paused, suitcase hanger128 in one hand and a uniform jacket in the other, and looked hard at his brother. 'We're getting married." "You are? Good for you." "Do you mean that?" "Sure. She sounds like a Marvelous girl." "She is. I know the religious problem exists-21 Warren grinned and ducked his head to one side. "Ah, Byron, now-a-days-does it really? if you wanted the ministry-or politics, say-you'd have to give it more thought. Christ, with the war on and the whole world coming apart, I say grab her -I look forward to meeting that girl. Isn't she a PhD. or something?" "She was going for an M.A. at the Sorbonne." "Brother! I'd be more scared of her than of a carrier landing at night in a line squall." Byron's grin showed possessive pride. "I was around her six months, and never opened my mouth, hardly. Then she up and said she loved me. I'm still trying to believe it." 'Why not? You've gotten damned handsome, my lad. You've lost that string-bean look. You marrying up now, or after sub school?" 'I"o the devil says I'm going to sub school? Don't start that. I get enough from Dad." Warren deft]Y moved clothes from bureau to a foot locker129. "But He's right, Byron. You don't want to wait till you get called up. If you do they'll shove you around, rush you through, and you may not even draw the duty you want. You can pick your spot now and get decenttraining. Say, have YOu given naval aviation any thought? Why do You want to go crawling around at four knots, three hundred feet underwater, when you can fly? I get claustrophobia just thinking about subs. You might make a great flier. One thing you are is relaxed." "I got interested in subs." Byron described Prien's talk in Berlin on the sinking of the Royal Oak. 'That was a brave exploit," said Warren. "A real score. Even Churchill admitted that. Very romantic. I guess that's what attracts you. But this s an air war, Briny. Those Germans haven't got that much of an edge on the ground. The papers keep talking panzers, panzers, but the French have more and better tanks than the Germans. They're not using them. They've been panicked by those Stukas, which just use our own divebombing tactics." "That's what got me, a Stuka," Byron said. "It didn't look that scary. Fixed wheels, single engine, medium size, kind of slow and awkward." Tossing ByrOn a large gray book, Warren said with a grin, "Take a look through The Flight jacket. I'm there in Squadron Five, tying on my solo flags. I've got to pay some bills, then we're off to church." Byron was still looking through the yearbook when his brother returned. "Holy cow, Warren, number one in ground school! How'd you do that and court Janice, too?" "It took a toll48." Warren made an exhausted130 face, and they both laughed. 'Bookwork is never too tough when you organize it." Byron held up the yearbook, pointing to a black-bordered page. "These fellows all got it?" Warren's face sobered. "Yep. Frank Monahan was my instructor131, and a great flier." He sighed and looked around the barren room, hands on hips. "Well, I'm not sorry to leave this room. Eleven months I've sweated in here." Pensacola might look small and sleepy, Warren said as they drove into town, but it had perfect climate, great water sports, fine fishing, good golf and riding clubs, and up-and-coming industries. This was the real Florida, not that Brooklyn with palm trees called Miami. These rural western counties were the place to get a political start. Congressman132 Ucouture had had no competition. He had recently decided to run for the Senate in the fall, and his chances were considered excellent. Warren said he and Janice might well come back here one day. 'When you retire?" Byron said. "That's looking far ahead."'Possibly before then." With a side glance, Warren took in Byron's astonishment133. 'Listen, Briny, the day I soloed, President Roosevelt fired the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Fleet. Some dispute over policy for the Asiatic Fleet. Made him ambassador to Turkestan, or something, but actually just kicked him out. CinCus himself! In the Navy you're just a hired man, my lad, right on up that big climb through the bureaus and the shore stations and the sea billets. Right to the top. Don't ever tell Dad I talked like this. Janice is an only child and the Lacouture firm does twenty million a year. Of course, as long as I can fly, that's all I want to do." Inside the pink stone church topped by a square bell tower, two men in smocks were finishing up a huge flower display, and an unseen organist was rippling134 a Bach prelude135. "Nobody can say I kept her waiting at the church," Warren said. "Almost an hour to go. Well, we can talk. It's cool in here." They sat halfway136 down the rows of empty purple-cushioned pews. The music, the odor of the flowers, the unmistakable childhood smell of church, hit Byron hard. He felt again what it was like to be a reverent137 boy, sitting or standing beside his father, joining in the hymns138, or trying to follow the minister's talk about the misty139 and wonderful Lord Jesus. Marrying Natalie, there would be no such wedding as this. What kind could they have? A church was altogether out of the question. What was it like to be married by a rabbi? They had not discussed that part at all. The two brothers sat side by side in a long silence. Warren was again regretting, in a fashion, last night's indulgence, and making half-hearted pious140 resolves. The feelings of a bridegroom were coming over him. "Briny, say something. I'm getting nervous. Who knows when we'll have a chance to talk again?" Byron wistfully smiled, and it struck Warren once more how goodlooking his brother had become. "Long time since you and I went to church together." "Yes. Janice likes to go. I guess if these walls aren't falling in on me now, there's still hope for me. You know, Briny, all this may work out pretty well. If you do get into subs, you can put in for duty at Pearl. Maybe the four of us will end up there together for a couple of years. Wouldn't that be fine?" Natalie had often visited the homes of wealthy college friends, but she was not prepared for the Lacouture mansion141, a rambling142 stone house on the bay, in a private section guarded by a mossy stucco wall, an ironfenced entrance, and an iron-faced gatekeeper. Gentility, seclusion143, exelusion, were all around her. The rooms upon rooms of antique furniture, Persian rugs, grandfather clocks, large oil portraits, heavy worn draperies, ironwork, gilt-framed big nidrrors, old-fashioned photographs-the whole place unsettled her. Janice scampered144 to meet her in a fluttery pink housecoat, her blonde hair tumbling to her shoulders.
'Hi! So sweet of you to come on this short notice. Look at me. I didn't sleep all night. I'm so tired I can't see. I'll never be ready. Let's get You some breakfast." "Please, just put me in a corner somewhere till we go. I'm fine." Janice scanned her with weary but keen big hazel eyes. This happy girl, all pink and gold, made Natalie the more conscious of her own dark eyes, dark hair, wrinkled linen145 suit, and sad dowdy146 look. "No wonder Byron fell for you. My God, you're pretty. Come along." Janice took her to a breakfast alcove147 fating the water, where a maid brought her eggs and tea in old blue-and-white china on a silver tray. She ate and felt better, if no more at home. Outside, sailboats tacked here and there in the sunshine. Clocks struck nine in the house, one after the other, bonging and chiming. She could hear excited voices upstairs. She took the letter from her purse, where it had seemed a lump of lead all the way from Miami: five single-space pages so faintly typed that her eyes ached to read them. Obviously A.J. was not going to learn to change a typewriter ribbon till he died. It was a long tale of woe148. He had a fractured ankle. With a French art critic, an old friend, he had gone on a tour of cathedrals the week after Byron had left. At Orvieto, mounting a ladder to look at an inaccessible149 fresco150, he had slipped and fallen to the stone floor. To make matters worse, there was his mixed-up citizenship151 problem, which for the first time he was taking seriously. He had "derivative152 citizenship' from his father's naturalization around igoo; but because of his long residence out of the country, difficulties had arisen. There seemed to be conflicting records of his age at the time of his father's naturalization. The man in Rome, a decent enough person to talk to but an obsessive153 bureaucrat154, had pressed searching questions and demanded more and more documents, and Aaron had left Rome in deep confusion. Aaron wrote: I may have made a mistake at that point, but I decided to drop the whole thing. This was in December of last year. It seemed to me that I was like the fly blundering into a spider web; the more I'd struggle, the tighter I'd become enmeshed. I didn't really want to go home just then. I assumed that if I let the thing cool off and asked for the passport renewal155 later-especially if some other consul30 general were appointed meantime -I'd get it. it's a question of a purple stamp and a two,-dollar fee. It seemed unthinkable to me then, and still does now, that I could actually be denied permission to return to my own country, where I am even listed in Who's Who! During the spasm156 of alarm over Norway, he had once visited the Florence consulate157. There a "shallow but seemingly affable crew-cut type' had conceded that these were all silly technicalities, that Dr. Jastrow was certainly an eiwnent and desirable person, and that the consular158 service would somehow solve the difficulty. Much relieved, Jastrow had gone off on the cathedral tour, fractured his ankle, and thus missed an appointment to return to the consulate two weeks later.
The letter continued: What comes next I still cannot understand. It was either incredible stupidity or incredible malevolence159. Crew-cut wrote a letter to me. The tone was polite enough. The gist160 was that as a stateless person in wartime I faced serious complications, but he thought he had found a way out. Congress has recently passed a law admitting certain special classes of refugees. If I were to apply under that law, I probably would have no further trouble, being a prominent Jew. That was his recommendation. Do you realize the ill depth of the stupidity and the damage in his letter? I received it only five days ago. I'm still boiling. To begin with he wants me to abandon all claim to being an American-which I am, whether my papers are in order or not-and to enlist161 myself in the mob of clamoring Jewish refugees from Europe seeking admittance as hardship cases! But that isn't the worst of it. He put all this on paper and he put it in the mail. I cannot believe that even such a dullard doesn't know that a letter from the consular office to me would be opened and read by the Italians. I'll never know why Crew-cut did it, but I'm forced to suspect a trace of anti-Semitism. That bacfflus is in the European air, and in in personalities162 it lodges163 and flourishes. The Italian authorities now know my problem. That alarmingly increases my vulnerability here. I've been sitting in the lovely sunshine of the terrace day after day, in a wheelchair, alone except for Italian servants, growing more and more perturbed164. Finally I decided to write to you, and give the letter to my French friend to mail. Natalie, I have certainly been heedless about a serious matter. I can only plead that before the war these things seemed of no consequence. To you I'm sure they still don't. You were born on American soil. I was born on the banks of the Vistula. I am getting a late lesson in the vast difference that makes, and in the philosophy of personal identity. I really should straighten my situation out. Happily, there's no desperate urgency in it. Siena's tranquil165, food's plentiful166 again, my ankle's healing, and the war is distant summer thunder. I am getting on with my work, but I had better clarify my right to go home. One can never know when or where the villain167 with the mustache will make his next move. Now will you tell all this to Leslie Slote? There he sits in Washington, at the heart of things. A hangman's noose168 of red tape can be cut by one word spoken in the right place. If he still has a shred19 of regard for me, let him look into this. I could write him directly but I know we'll get faster action if you go to him. I beg you to do this. Jastrow wrote a touching169 pAragraph about Natalie's father. He blamed their estrangement170 on himself. The scholarly temperament171 was a sejf-absorbed one. He hoped that he could treat her as a daughter, though a father's place could never really be filled. Then came the passage aboutByron which had prevented Natalie from showing him the letter. Have you Byron yet? I miss him. He has a curiously172 charming Presence-triste, humorous,reser(seen) ved, virile173. I've never known a more winning boy, and I've known hundreds. A young fellow in his twentis shouldn't seem a boy, but he does. An aureole of romance plays about him. Byron might be all right if he had any talent, or a vestige174 of drive. Sometimes he shows doggedness: and he has a way of coming out with bright Hashes. He said Hegel's world-spirit was just God minus Christianity. That's commonplace enough, but he added it was much easier to believe in God's sacrificing him for mankind, than in His groping to understand Himself through the unfolding of mankind's stupidities. I rather liked that. Unhappily it was the one good thing amid many banalities such as, "This Nietzsche was just some kind of a nut," and 'Nobody would bother reading Fichte, if anybody could understand him." If I'd marked Byron for our seminar on the Slote Reading List, he'd have made a C minus. Often I came upon him reading your letters over and over in the lemon house. The poor lad has a terrible crush on you. Are you at all aware of that? I hope you won't inadvertently hurt him, and I rather wonder at your writing him so often. For all my troubles, I've been a reasonably good boy, and stand on manuscript page 847 Of ConstantineA clock chiming the half hour brought Natalie back with a start from the terrace in Siena-where in her mind's eye she could see A.J. sitting wrapped in his blue shawl, writing these words-to the Lacouture mansion on Pensacola Bay. 'Oh God," she muttered, "oh my God." Feet trampled175 on a staircase; many voices called, laughed, chattered176. The bride came sailing down the long dining room, wheat-colored hair beautifully coiffed and laced with pearls, cheeks pink with pleasure. "Well, l did it. Here we go. Natalie jumped to her feet, cramming A.J."s pages into her purse. "Oh, you're enchanting177! You're the loveliest sight!" Janice pirouetted clear around on a toe. "Bless you." The white satin, clinging to Hanks and breasts like creamy skin, rose demurely178 to cover her throat. She moved in a cloud of white lace. This blend of white chastity and crude fleshy allure179 was devastating180; it shook Natalie with envy. The bride's eye had an ironic181 gleam. After her wild pre-wedding night, Janice Lacouture felt approldmately as virginal as Catherine of Russia. It didn't bother her. Rather, it appealed to her sense of humor. "Come," she said. "You'll ride with me." She took the Jewish girl's "You know, if I weren't marrying Warren Henry, I'd give you a run arm.
for that little Briny. He's an Adonis, and so sweet. Those Henry men!" Rhoda arrived at the hotel in a flurry, and frantically182 bathed and dressed, pulling cosmetics183 from one valise, underwear from another, her new Bergdorf Goodman frock from a third. Dr. Kirby had chartered a & small plane and had flown down with her and Madeline. 'He saved our Lives!" trilled Rhoda, dashing about in a sheer green slip. "The last plane we could get from New York didn't leave us any time to finish shopping. Your daughter and I would have come to this wedding in OLD RAGS. This way, we had a whole extra afternoon and, Pug, you never sAw such fast shopping. Isn't this a cunning number?" She held the green frock against her bosom184. "Found it at the last second. Honestly, a small plane is such FUN. I slept most of the way, but when I was awake it was RREAT. You really know you're flying."Damn nice of him," Pug said. "Is Fred that rich?" "Well, of course, I wouldn't hear of it, but then he said it was all charged to his company. He's taking the plane on to Birmingham today. Anyway, I wasn't going to argue too much, dear. It was a deliverance. Fasten me up in back. Pug, did Briny really bring that Jewish girl here? Of all things. Why, I've never even laid eyes on her. She'll have to sit with us, and everybody'll think she's part of the family." "Looks like she will be, Rhoda." "I don't believe it. I just don't. y, how much older is she? Four years? That Briny! just enjoys giving us heart failure. Always has, the monster. Pug, what's taking you so long? My land, it's hot here." 'She's two years older, and terrifically attractive." "Well, YOu've got me curious, I'll say that. I pictured her as one of these tough Brooklyn chickens who shove past you in the New York department stores. Oh, stop fumbling185, I'll finish the top ones. Mercy, I'm roasting! I'm PerSpiring186 IN rivers. This dress will be black through before we get to church." Natalie knew in thirty seconds that the handsome woman in green chiffon and rose-decorated white straw hat didn't like her. The polite handshake outside the church, the prim26 smile, told all. Pug presented Natalie to Madeline as "Byron's sidekick on the Polish jaunt," obviously trying with this clumsy jocula make up for his fe's e rity to wiEr ere "Oh, yes, wow! Some adventure!" Madeline Henry smiled and looked Natalie over. Her pearl-gray shantung suit was the smartest outfit187 in sight. "I want to hear all about that, some time. I still haven't seenBriny, YOu know, and it's been more than two years." "He shouldn't have rushed down to Miami the way he did," Natalie said, feeling her cheeks redden. "Why not?" said Madeline, with a slow Byron-like grin. It was strange to echoes of his traits in his family. Mrs. Henry held her head as Byron did, erect188 on a long neck. It made him seem more remote. He wasn't just himself any more, her young companion of Jastrow's library and of Poland, or even the son of a forbidding father, but part of a quite alien group. The church was full. From the moment she went in, Natalie felt uncomfortable. Cathedrals gave her no uneasiness. They were just sights to see, and Roman Catholicism, though she could write a good paper about it, was like Mohammedanism, a complex closed-off structure. A Protestant church was the place of the other religion, the thing she would be if she weren't a Jew. Coming into one, she trod hostile territory. Rhoda didn't make quite enough room for her in the pew, and Natalie had to push her a little, murmuring an excuse, to step clear of the aisle189. All around, women wore bright or pastel colors. Officers and air cadets in white and gold abounded190. And there Natalie stood at a May wedding in black linen, hastily selected out of a vague sense that she was still in mourning and didn't belong here. People peered at her and whispered. It wasn't her imagination; they did. How charming and fine the church was, with its dark carved wooden ceiling arching up from pink stone walls; and what stunning191 masses of flowers! How pleasant, comfortable, and normal to be born an Episcopalian or a Methodist, and how perfect to be married this way! Perhaps A.J. was right, and encouraging Byron had been irresponsible. Leslie Slote was an and bookish pagan like herself, and they had even talked of being married by a judge. The robed minister appeared, book in hand, and the ceremony began. As the bride paced down the aisle on the congressman's arm, moving like a big beautiful cat, Rhoda started to cry. Memories of Warren as a little boy, memories of her own wedding, of other weddings, of young men who had wanted to marry her, of herself-a mother before twenty of the baby who had grown into this handsome groom-flooded her mind; she bowed her head in the perky hat and brought out the handkerchief. For the moment she lost her awareness192 of the melancholy Jewish girl in black beside her, and even of Palmer Kirby towering above people three rows back. When Victor Henry softly took her hand, she clasped his and pressed it to her thigh193. What fine sons they had, standing up there together! And Pug stood slightly hunched194, almost at attention, his face sombre and rigid195, wondering at the speed with which his life was going, and realizing again how little he allowed himself to think about Warren, because he had such inordinately196 high hopes for him. Standing up beside his brother, Byron felt many eyes measuring and comparing them. Warren's uniform, and the other uniforms in the church, troubled him. His Italian suit with itsexaggerated lines, beside Warren's naturally cut whites, seemed to Byron as soft and frivolous197 as a woman's dress. As Janice lifted her veil for the kiss, she and Warren exchanged a deep, knowing, intimately amused glance. "How are you doing?" he murmured. "Oh, still standing up. God knows how, you doing?" And with the minister beaming on them, they embraced, kissed, and laughed, there in the church in each other's arms, over the war-born joke that would last their whole lives and that nobody else would ever know. Cars piled up in front of the beach club, only a few hundred yards from the Lacouture house, and a jocund198 crowd poured into the canopied199 entrance for the wedding brunch200. "I swear, I must be the only Jew in Pensacola," Natalie said, hanging back a little on Byron's arm. "When I walk through that door, I'm going to set off gongs." He burst out laughing. "It's not quite that bad." She looked pleased at making him laugh. "Maybe not. I do think your mother might be a wee bit happier if a wall had fallen on me in Warsaw." At that moment, Rhoda, half a dozen paces behind them, was responding to a comment by a Washington cousin that Byron's girl looked striking. "Yes, doesn't she? So interesting. She might almost be an Armenian or an Arab. Byron met her in Italy." Champagne glass in hand, Byron firmly took Natalie around the wedding party from room to room, introducing her. "Don't say I'm your fiancee," Natalie ordered him at the start. "Let them think what they please, but don't let's get into all that." She met Captain Henry's father, an engineer retired201 from the lumber202 trade, a short withered203 upright man with thick white hair, who had travelled in from California and who looked as though he had worked hard all his life; and his surprisingly fat brother, who ran a soft-drink business in Seattle; and other Henrys; and a knot of Rhoda's kin3, Grovers of Washington. The clothes, the manners, the speech of the Washington relatives set them off not only from the California people, but even from Lacouture's Pensacola friends, who by comparison seemed a Babbitty lot. Janice and Warren came and stayed, joking, eating, drinking, and dancing. Nobody would have blamed them, in view of their limited time, for vanishing after a round of handshakes, but they evinced no impatience204 for the joys of their new state. Warren asked Natalie to dance, and as soon as they were out on the floor, he said, "I told Byron this morning that I'm for you. That was sight unseen. "Do you always take such blind risks? A flier should be more prudent205." "I know about what you did in Warsaw. That's enough.""You're cheering me up. I feel awfully206 out of place here." "You shouldn't. Janice is as much for you as I am. Byron seems changed already," Warren said. "There's a lot to him, but nobody's ever pressed the right button. I've always hoped that some day a girl would, and I think you're the girl." Rhoda Henry swooped207 past, champagne glass in hand, and gathered them up to join a large family table by the window. Possibly because of the wine, she was acting208 more cordial to Natalie. At the table Lacouture was declaring, with rebsh for his own pat phrases, that the President'request for fifty thousand airplanes year was "politically hysterical209, fiscally210 irresponsib(s) le,andindustriallyinconceivable."Eve(a) n the German air force didn't have ten thousand planes all told; and it didn't have a single bomber211 that could fly as far as Scotland, let alone across the Atlantic. A billion dollars! The interventionist press was whooping212 it up, naturally, but if the debate in Congress could go on for more than a week, the appropriation213 would be licked. "We have three thousand miles of good green water between us and Europe," he said, "and that's better protection for us than half a million airplanes. Roosevelt just wants new planes in a hurry to give to England and France. But he'll never come out and say that. Our fearless leader is slightly deficient214 in candor215." 'You're wring216 to see the British and French go down, then," Pug Henry said. p "That's how the question s usually put," said Lacouture. 'Ask me if I'm willing to send three million American boys overseas against the Germans, so as to prop102 up the old status quo in Europe. Because that's what this is all about, and don't ever forget it." Palmer Kirby put in, "The British navy's propping217 up our own status quo free of charge, Congressman. If the Nazis get hold of it, that'll extend Hitler's reach to Pensacola Bay." Lacouture said jovially218, "Yes, I can just see the Rodney and the Nelson right out there, flying the swastika and shelling our poor old beach club." this raised a laugh among the assorted219 in-laws around the table, and Rhoda said, "What a charming thought." Victor Henry said, 'This isn't where they'll come." 'They're not coming at all," Lacouture said. "That's New York Times stuff. If the British get in a jam, they'll throw out Churchill and make a deal with Germany. But naturally they'll hang on long they think there'a chance that the Roosevelt administration, the British Sy(as) mpathizer(as) s, and the New York (s) Jews will get us over there." "I'm from Denver," said Kirby, 'and I'm Irish." He and Victor Henry had glanced at Natalie when Lacouture mentioned the Jews. "Well, error is contagious," said the congressman with great good nature, "and it knows no boundaries.n This easy amused war talk over turkey, roast beef, and champagne, by a broadpicture window looking out at beach umbrellas, white sand, and heeling sailboats, had been irritating Natalie extremely. Lacouture's last sentence stung her to say in a loud voice, "I was in Warsaw during the siege." Lacouture calmly said, "That's right, so you were. You and Byron. Pretty bad, was it?" "The Germans bombed a defenseless city for three weeks. They knocked out all the hospitals but one, the mine I worked in. The wounded were piled up in our entrance hall like logs. In one hospital a lot of pregnant women burned up." The table became a hole of quiet in the boisterous220 party. The ngers. "That sort of thing has been going on in Europe for centuries, my dear. It's exactly what I want to spare the American people." 'Say, I heard a good one yesterday," spoke up a jolly-faced man in steel-rimmed glasses, laughing. "Abey and his family, see, are driving down to Xfiami, and about Tampa they run out of gasoline. Well, they drive into this filling station, and this attendant says, 'Juice?" And old Abey he says, 'Veil, vot if ve are? Dunt ve get no gess?"$ The jolly man laughed again, and so did the others. Natalie could see he meant no harm; he was trying to ease the sober Turn of the talk. Still she was very glad that Byron came up now and took her off to dance. "How long does this go on?" she said. "Can we go outside? I don't want to dance." 'Good. I have to talk to you." They sat on the low wall of the terrace in blazing sun, by stairs leading to the white sand, not far from the picture window, behind which Lacouture was still holding forth, shaking his white-thatched head and waving an arm. Byron leaned forward, elbows on knees, fingers clasped together. "Darling, I think I'm getting organized here. I may as well fly up to New London today or tomorrow and take that physical, so that-what's the matter?" A spasm had crossed her face. "Nothing, go on. You're flying to New London." "Only if you agree. I'll do nothing that we both don't concur221 on, from now on and for ever. "All right." "Well, I take the physical. I a check the situation, and make very sure that a married applicant222 has a chance, and that if he's admitted he gets to spend time with his wife. That takes care of our first few months, maybe our first year. I'll eventually go to one submarine base or another, if I get through, and you'll come along, the way Janice is doing. We all might end up at Pearl Harbor together.
There's a university in Hawaii. You might even teach there." 'Goodness, you've been thinking with might and main, haven't you?" Victor Henry came through the doors to the terrace. Byron looked up, and said coolly and distantly, "Hi, looking for me?" 'Hi. I understand you're driving Madeline to the airport. Don't leave without me. I just talked to Washington and I've got to scoot back. Your mother's staying on." "When's the plane?" Natalie said. "One-forty." "Can you lend me some money?" she said to Byron. "I think I'll go to Washington on that plane." Pug said, "Oh? Glad to have your company," and went back into the club. 'You're going to Washington!" Byron said. "Why there, for crying out loud?" She put a cupped palm to Byron's face. "Something about Uncle Aaron's citizenship. While you're in New London, I can take care of it. My God, what's the matter? You look as though you've been shot." "You're mistaken. I'll give you the fare." "Byron, listen, I do have to go there, and it would be plain silly to fly down to Miami and then right back up to Washington. Can't you see that? It's for a day or two at most." "I said I'd give you the fare." Natalie sighed heavily. "Darling, listen, I'll show you Aaron's letter. He asked me to talk to Leslie Slote about his passport problem, it's beginning to worry him." She opened her purse. "What's the point?" Byron stile[y stood up. "I believe you." Warren insisted on coming to the airport, though Pug tried to protest that the bridegroom surely had better things to do with his scanty223 time. "How do I know when I'll see all of you again?" Warren kept saying. Rhoda and Janice got into the argument, and the upshot was that the Henrys plus the bride and Natalie all piled into Lacouture's Cadillac. Rhoda on the way out had snatched a bottle of champagne and some glasses. "This family has been GYPPED by this miserable224, stupid war," she declared, handing the glasses around asByron started up the car. "The first time we're all together in how many years? And we can't even stay together for twelve hours! Well, I say, if it's going to be a short reunion it's damn well going to be a merry one. Somebody sing something!" So they sang "Bell Bottom Trousers" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "I've Got Sixpence" and "Auld225 LangSyne" as the Cadillac rolled toward the airport. Natalie, crowded between Rhoda and Madeline, tried to join in, but "Auld LangSyne" was the only song she knew. Rhoda pressed a glass on her, and filled it until wine foamed226 over the girl's fingers. "Oops, sorry, dear. Well, it's a mercy your suit's black," she said, mopping at Natalie's lap with her handkerchief. When the car drove through the airport entrance they were singing one Natalie had never even heard, a family favorite that Pug had brought from California: Tillwe meet, till we meet Tilltve meet at Jesus' feet Till we meet, till we meet God be with YOU till 'we meet again and Rhoda Henry was crying into her champagne-soaked handkerchief, stating that these were tears of happiness over Warren's wonderful marriage.
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positively
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| adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的 | |
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3
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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4
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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5
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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6
briny
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| adj.盐水的；很咸的；n.海洋 | |
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filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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9
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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10
slurring
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| 含糊地说出( slur的现在分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱 | |
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11
consonants
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| n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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13
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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14
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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15
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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16
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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17
smearing
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| 污点，拖尾效应 | |
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18
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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19
shred
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| v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少 | |
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20
sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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23
mid
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| adj.中央的，中间的 | |
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24
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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25
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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26
prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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27
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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28
scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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29
consultant
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| n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生 | |
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30
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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31
neutron
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| n.中子 | |
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32
steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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33
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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34
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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35
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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36
isotope
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| n.同位素 | |
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37
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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38
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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39
isotopes
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| n.同位素；同位素( isotope的名词复数 ) | |
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40
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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41
deflected
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| 偏离的 | |
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42
jumbles
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| 混杂( jumble的名词复数 )； （使）混乱； 使混乱； 使杂乱 | |
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43
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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44
demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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45
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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46
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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47
extolling
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| v.赞美( extoll的现在分词 )；赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的现在分词 ) | |
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48
toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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49
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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50
latched
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| v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上） | |
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51
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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52
guffawed
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| v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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54
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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55
collapsing
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| 压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂 | |
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56
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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57
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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58
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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59
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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60
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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61
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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62
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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63
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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64
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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65
binoculars
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| n.双筒望远镜 | |
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66
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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67
skyscraper
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| n.摩天大楼 | |
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68
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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69
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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70
throttle
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| n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压 | |
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71
wanly
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| adv.虚弱地；苍白地，无血色地 | |
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72
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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73
torpedoes
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| 鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 )； 油井爆破筒； 刺客； 掼炮 | |
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74
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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75
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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76
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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77
clam
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| n.蛤，蛤肉 | |
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78
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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79
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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80
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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81
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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82
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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83
inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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85
appraising
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| v.估价( appraise的现在分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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86
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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87
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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88
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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89
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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90
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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91
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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92
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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93
gulps
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| n.一大口（尤指液体）( gulp的名词复数 )v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的第三人称单数 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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94
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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95
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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96
immaturity
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| n.不成熟；未充分成长；未成熟；粗糙 | |
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97
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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98
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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99
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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100
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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101
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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102
prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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103
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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104
cramming
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| n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课 | |
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105
premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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106
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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107
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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108
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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109
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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110
nuptials
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| n.婚礼；婚礼( nuptial的名词复数 ) | |
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111
tacked
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| 用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝 | |
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112
Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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113
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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114
pate
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| n.头顶；光顶 | |
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115
brandishing
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| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
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116
saluting
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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117
caption
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| n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明 | |
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118
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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119
Nazis
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| n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义 | |
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120
buddies
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| n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人 | |
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121
lingo
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| n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语 | |
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122
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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123
mishaps
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| n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
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124
aviator
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| n.飞行家，飞行员 | |
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125
pimples
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| n.丘疹，粉刺，小脓疱( pimple的名词复数 ) | |
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126
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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127
saga
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| n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇 | |
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128
hanger
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| n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩 | |
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129
locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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130
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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131
instructor
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| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
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132
Congressman
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| n.（美）国会议员 | |
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133
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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134
rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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135
prelude
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| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
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136
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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137
reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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138
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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139
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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140
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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141
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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142
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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143
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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144
scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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145
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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146
dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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147
alcove
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| n.凹室 | |
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148
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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149
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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150
fresco
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| n.壁画；vt.作壁画于 | |
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151
citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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152
derivative
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| n.派(衍)生物；adj.非独创性的，模仿他人的 | |
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153
obsessive
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| adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的 | |
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154
bureaucrat
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| n. 官僚作风的人，官僚，官僚政治论者 | |
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155
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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156
spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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157
consulate
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| n.领事馆 | |
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158
consular
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| a.领事的 | |
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159
malevolence
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| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
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160
gist
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| n.要旨；梗概 | |
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161
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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162
personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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163
lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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164
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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165
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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166
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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167
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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168
noose
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| n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑 | |
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169
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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170
estrangement
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| n.疏远，失和，不和 | |
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171
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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172
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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173
virile
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| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
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174
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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175
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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176
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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177
enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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178
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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179
allure
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| n.诱惑力，魅力；vt.诱惑，引诱，吸引 | |
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180
devastating
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| adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的 | |
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181
ironic
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| adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的 | |
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182
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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183
cosmetics
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| n.化妆品 | |
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184
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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185
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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186
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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187
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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188
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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189
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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190
abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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191
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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192
awareness
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| n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智 | |
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193
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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194
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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195
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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196
inordinately
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| adv.无度地，非常地 | |
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197
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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198
jocund
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| adj.快乐的，高兴的 | |
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199
canopied
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| adj. 遮有天篷的 | |
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200
brunch
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| n.早午餐 | |
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201
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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202
lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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203
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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204
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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205
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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206
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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207
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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208
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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209
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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210
fiscally
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| 在国库方面，财政上，在国库岁入方面 | |
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211
bomber
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| n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者 | |
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212
whooping
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| 发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的 | |
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213
appropriation
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| n.拨款，批准支出 | |
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214
deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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215
candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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216
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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217
propping
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| 支撑 | |
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218
jovially
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| adv.愉快地，高兴地 | |
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219
assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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220
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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221
concur
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| v.同意，意见一致，互助，同时发生 | |
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222
applicant
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| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
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223
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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224
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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225
auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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226
foamed
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| 泡沫的 | |
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