They happily talked until the meal was brought, at which time they bowed their heads and Temple asked a simple blessing.
“This is perfect,” he said as he cut into his steak, done rare as he had requested.
In their conversation she found that Temple had been everywhere and done everything. “Will you tell me a little bit about the war?” she asked. “I had a dear friend who was in it.”
Temple looked up quickly, studying her for a moment. “He didn’t make it back?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“There were good men there and bad men. But when we went over the top, we all went together. I never asked a man’s background when we faced the enemy.”
He talked for some time about the war, and somehow she found it comforting. They progressed onto other subjects, and she asked, “Do you have a family?”
“You mean am I married?”
She saw his face change and she nodded.
“Yes, I was married—to a dear woman named Heather. I met her in London.”
Sharon did not speak, seeing that this was a hard story for him to tell as he grew still and seemed to debate about his next words.
“I brought her here, and we had three good years. But then she died in childbirth.”
Sharon clearly saw the pain on his face. “And the child?”
“He died too. He would have been a fine boy.”
Sharon thought then of her own loss and immediately realized how self-centered she had been. I’ve been grieving as if I were the only person ever to lose a loved one, but Temple’s loss is so much greater than mine!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Out of the Past
The May sky was a perfect azure, Clayton noted with satisfaction as he looked up at the lazily drifting clouds. A flight of blackbirds wheeled overhead, turning perfectly together. I wonder how they do that, he thought. It’s like all those birds share one brain. He smiled at his own foolishness, then bent over the worktable he had set up on the verandah so he could enjoy the fresh fragrance of the spring day.
Looking down at the large sheet of paper he had pinned to the top of the table, he saw an ant crossing it, bearing a burden. Food, he supposed. Leaning down, he examined the tiny insect and waited until it reached the edge. The ant seemed reluctant to get off, so Clayton nudged him with the tip of his finger. “I believe you’re lost, little boy,” he said. “You’d better get back to your family.” He watched the ant crawl across the table, then down a leg, still bearing his burden. “You ants—all work and no play. And, by george, that’s what I feel like! It’s been a tough year.”
Clayton took a drink of his iced tea and then arched his back to relieve the stiffness from bending over the worktable for several hours. The school year was over, and with a sigh of relief he realized he didn’t have to go to another class this year. He loved school and was very successful in his studies. In fact, all of his professors said he was destined for greatness. But as much as Clayton enjoyed his classes, he was glad to be free for a while. He was looking forward now to his summer plans, complete with parties, travel, swimming, and tennis.
His first job before relaxing, however, was this project that his mother had started and been unable to finish. She had not been feeling well and was resting. The doctor said her heart was not as sound as he would like and recommended that she keep to her bed for a time. Lucille’s illness troubled Clayton. He had just turned twenty this month, and it was the first time he had encountered a serious problem in his life. He had experienced his share of broken hearts over various young women who interested him but had recovered quickly from each one as there was always someone else anxious to fill the role of Clayton Winslow’s sweetheart. Being healthy, strong, and handsome in addition to being wealthy had allowed him to lead a very easy life. He lived in a manner that pleased him and took the good things he had inherited for granted. Aside from an occasional twinge of conscience when he saw real suffering, such as ragged men selling apples on street corners to feed their families, Clayton was satisfied with himself and with life.
His reverie was broken when he heard his name called. He turned around and saw Sarah Mellon, the woman he planned to marry, coming out of the house. The niece of the famous Andrew Mellon, she was rather short and one day might have a serious weight problem like her mother, but for now she was well shaped and attractive. She came over to give him a light kiss. Her round face, brown eyes, and brown hair looked very pretty with the light green dress she wore, accented by jade earrings and a large jade ring on her right hand.
“Your sister told me you were out here. I thought I’d stop on my way into the city and see if you wanted to come with me.”
“I’d better not. I stayed up most of last night working on this new landscape plan, and I want to show it to the gardener. I moved out here this morning because it’s so beautiful today. Here, let me show you what I’ve done.”
Clayton enthusiastically explained the drawing, outlining the new flower beds, pond, and fountains with his forefinger. His mother had decided she wanted changes made in much of the grounds, but she had barely gotten into it when she had fallen ill. Clayton had told her, “Don’t worry, Mom. You go to bed and get well, and I’ll do the landscaping. After all, I am an architect—or will be someday.”
He turned to his girlfriend. “It’s going to be a new place, Sarah. It really is.”
“I can’t tell much from a picture, but I know it will be beautiful.”
He leaned over and gave her a hug and tried to kiss her, but she turned her lips away so that he kissed her on the cheek instead. She was not terribly affectionate, but she was pretty, and her family, the Mellons, had no end of money. She had not given him a definite yes or no to his marriage proposal, but Clayton had enough confidence to know that one day she would. His mother was already planning the wedding, and he had had to remind her, “It’s the bride’s mother who does all that. You’ll have to wait until Sharon marries before you get to make all the decisions.”
“I’ll tell you what, Sarah,” he said. “I’ve got to go give William these plans. Do you want to come with me?”
“Sure, I’m not in a big hurry.”
“Great. It’s a nice day for a walk.” He unpinned the drawing and rolled it up, and the two made their way across the grounds. “I don’t see William,” Clayton commented. “He’s usually around at this time of day.”
They were passing the shed that housed the gardening equipment when Sarah said, “Look, there’s a woman working on that tractor. Can’t you afford to hire men?”
Clayton glanced in the direction she gestured. “That’s Seana Morgan, William’s daughter. She’s not hired to work here, so I don’t know what she’s doing with that tractor. But maybe she knows where her father is.”
As the two approached the shed, Seana turned. She was wearing a pair of greasy coveralls and had a spot of grease on her cheek. Her red hair was tied up and mostly hidden under a white-billed cap.
“A good morning to you,” she greeted.
“Hello, Seana. This is Miss Mellon. Sarah, this is Seana Morgan.”
“It’s glad I am to greet you,” Seana said, “but I’m sorry I look such a mess.” She shrugged and held up her greasy hands.
“That’s all right. It’s nice to meet you too,” Sarah said. “You know how to work on tractors?”
“Oh, a bit. Enough to keep them going.”
“I’m looking for your father,” Clayton said. He was ill at ease, for ever since Seana had shoved him into that pile of manure, he had felt she was secretly laughing at him.
“He’s gone to get a load of fertilizer, and then he’s going to stop off and get some parts for this beastly machine. Would you be wantin’ him to do something on the grounds? I have two days off from classes, so I’m helping around here.”
“No, we’re making some changes in the landscape. I want to go over them with him.”
“Changes? What sort of changes?”
“Almost ever
ything.” He hesitated, then said, “Look, I’ll have to talk to your father, but I could give you an overview, and he can look the drawings over and get back to me.” He unrolled the paper, stretched it out on a workbench, and held down one end. He had begun to explain the proposed changes when he was suddenly interrupted.
“You can’t be doin’ this,” Seana said.
Both Clayton and Sarah stared at her. They weren’t accustomed to being told they couldn’t do something.
“I can’t do what?”
“You can’t make a pond here. It won’t work where you’ve got it.”
“What are you talking about? That’s where I want the pond.”
“Have you been out and walked over the grounds?”
“Of course I have.” Actually he had not gone specifically to look at the grounds before making his plan, for he believed he knew the estate very well.
“You can’t make a pond here. The elevation’s too high.”
“Then I’ll build a dam or something,” Clayton said stiffly.
“A dam it is now! Aren’t you a creative architect? This place needs to look natural. Not like a government project.”
Seana touched another spot on the sketch. “And magnolia trees! They don’t grow in this climate. I should think you’d know that. They’re a southern tree.”
As Seana continued to point out other features that wouldn’t work well, Clayton’s face grew hotter. This girl could anger him more than anyone he had ever met. He snatched up the plan, rolled it up, and said huffily, “I’ll talk to your father when he gets back.”
“Right you are. He’ll tell you the same things I did. And a good day to you both.”
Clayton stalked off with Sarah running to keep up. As soon as they were out of earshot, she demanded, “Why do you put up with help like that? You should have discharged her on the spot!”
“I can’t discharge her. As I told you, she doesn’t work for us. She just helps her father.”
“She’s a wild thing, isn’t she, running around in a pair of coveralls? And that red hair, it’s completely impossible!”
Clayton shrugged. “Yes, she is a pain, but when she’s dressed up, I have to admit she’s rather attractive.”
Sarah stopped abruptly. “Oh, you think so?”
“I . . . I just mean she’s presentable enough,” Clayton quickly said, wishing he could take back his careless comment, for Sarah could be bitingly jealous. “Of course, most of the time, she’s either wearing coveralls or grubbing around in her father’s old clothes. Except when she’s always wearing one of those ugly nurse’s uniforms.”
Sarah’s back was stiff. “I’m glad you find the help attractive. Come on. I’ve seen enough of the gardens for one day.”
****
“I’ll tell you, sis, that girl is impossible. I wish she’d stick to her nursing and stay out of my business.”
“She hasn’t been shoving you into any more piles of horse manure, has she?” Sharon could not help teasing Clayton, but seeing him glare at her now, she tried to appease his anger. “I’m sorry, Clayton. It wasn’t the end of the world, and Seana didn’t mean to do it.”
The two were in Sharon’s studio, and she was wearing her white work smock, her hands covered in white dust from the plaster of Paris she was mixing. She continued to knead the mass as she spoke. “What has Seana done now?”
“I took the plans for the new landscaping down to show William, and he wasn’t there, but Seana was. She was tinkering with a tractor and had grease all over her.”
“I didn’t know she was a mechanic.”
“I guess she can do anything. In any case, I showed her the plans, and she found something wrong with everything I pointed out. Imagine! Her telling me how to draw up a landscape plan!”
“What did she say was wrong with them?”
“For one thing, she said the elevation wasn’t right to put in the new pond where I want it.”
“Is she right?” Sharon asked.
“Now, don’t you start!”
“Well, is she? Have you checked it out?”
Actually Clayton had gone out and walked over the grounds and discovered that Seana was indeed right. He had already decided on another location for the pond, but he was too proud to admit his error. He continued to speak rather testily, explaining the other features the woman had found fault with.
“Why do you get so angry? Is it because she’s right?”
“No, it’s her attitude.”
“Hmm. Her attitude has always been good around me. I think you bring out the worst in her. She probably thinks you’re pompous and likes to poke little pins in you to deflate you.”
“Do you think I’m pompous?” he demanded.
Sharon hesitated. “Sometimes you get a little too conscious of your own importance, Clayton. We’ve talked about that before. You were that way when you were a boy. I love Mother and Dad, but a lot of their attitudes about high society have gotten into you.”
“Sis, you know that status is important. Family is important.”
“The families of poor people are important too. Like those families Temple and I have been visiting on the Lower East Side. That’s such a terrible place to live. But Tony and Maria Pappagallo love their family and each other as much as we do. Yet most people of our social upbringing wouldn’t give Tony Pappagallo the time of day. I wish you’d learn to look at yourself in this light. Your attitude is going to cause you problems down the road, and I think you know it.”
“I’m glad you’ve got such a high opinion of me.”
“You know I love you dearly, Clayton. I always have, and I always will. But because I love you, I don’t think I should keep silent about your faults.”
“Then maybe I ought to tell you a few of yours.”
“Maybe you should.” Sharon waited, but Clayton dropped his head. When he lifted it, he was trying to smile. “You’re right, sis. I do get pompous, and I hate it when I see that in other people. So let Seana puncture me. Maybe it’ll be good for me.”
“Show her your other side. Have you apologized yet for trying to kiss her?”
“No.”
“I think that would be a good place to begin.”
Clayton laughed. “All right, sister dear. I’ll do that. She’ll probably knock me down with a shovel, but I’ll do it because you asked me to.” He watched her for a few minutes as she continued to work with the plaster. Finally he asked her what she was doing that afternoon.
“I’m going downtown again with Temple. We’re going to visit some of the people we’ve been seeing on the East Side.”
“You’re spending an awful lot of time with this fellow Smith. Who is he anyway?”
“Oh, just a man who cares about people.”
“You don’t know anything about him, really. Where does his family live? What do they do?”
“There you go again.”
“Now, wait a minute. It’s not wrong for a fellow to inquire about the man his sister’s dating.”
“I’m not dating him. We’re working together for the church.”
“It looks to me like you could just give money.”
“That’s what I thought, but Temple looked me right in the eye and said, ‘Love is more than money. Love is people.’”
“Well, somebody has to pay for the groceries and doctors and everything else. Does he have any money?”
Sharon felt uncomfortable. “I don’t think so.”
“Do you pay for everything?”
“I have a time or two.” She did not want to elaborate on that subject. “It’s easy to give money, but to actually go out and help people involves much more of yourself. It’s rewarding. I feel like I’m serving God for the first time, Clayton. I wish you’d come with us sometime.”
Clayton shook his head. “That’s not for me. And I want you to be careful.”
“Don’t you like Temple?”
“I don’t know him. He sounds like a workingman, and we move in differen
t worlds.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“I just don’t want you to get to liking him too much, Sharon. He doesn’t fit in our world.” Clayton put his arm around her. “After that picture of you and him on the motorcycle, all kinds of gossip has been going around.”
“What do they say?”
“They say you’re in love with a bum.”
“That’s foolishness!”
“I’m glad to hear it. You go on with your church work, then, but watch yourself, sis. You’re in a vulnerable position.”
“You don’t have to worry about me and Temple. I’m too old for romance.”
Clayton shook his head. “I don’t believe that for a minute. You haven’t been very lucky in love, but if you could find a good man—”
“I’m past all that,” Sharon insisted. “Now, you go on and tell Seana you’re sorry.”
****
The Pappagallo children swarmed Sharon as she and Temple entered the family’s new apartment. After Sharon had paid for medicine and a doctor’s help, Tony had recovered quickly and returned to work. She had paid all their expenses in the meantime, and she and Temple had helped them find a better apartment for their family. She sat down and gave out candy to the children, and they clamored for her attention while Temple talked to their mother.
“Things are looking much better now, Maria, aren’t they?” Temple said with a smile.
“Oh, Mr. Temple, you wouldn’t believe’a how wonderful it is. Tony he ees back to work, and we have plenty to eat and live in this nice’a place.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “It’s all your doing, you and Miss Sharon.”
Temple turned to look at Sharon, but she was busy with the children and had not heard their conversation.
“She’s such a good woman,” Maria said as they watched her playing and laughing with the children. “Why you no marry her?”
“Maybe she wouldn’t have me.” Temple shrugged.
“Don’t be foolish. Any woman would have a handsome man like you.”
“I think you need glasses, Maria. Anyway, we gotta be going.”
The Silent Harp Page 18