house. Along the flagstones she minced happily, and up the steps and in at the door.
“We’re going to have company, Claudia,” she said.
Claudia swept the room with an appraising glance, and smiled a cool smile. “Tell me,” she said quickly.
“Two really lovely young men, coming along to follow me. One with bright hair and a football body. The other tall, bearded, neat, sophisticated looking. We’ll have to do them credit.”
“Well, there’s a bottle of port out, and some of those cheese biscuits I made.” Claudia studied the table in the lamplight. “We’ll be all right.”
From outside they heard footsteps on the porch, and hesitant whispering.
“They’re beautiful,” said Garland.
Silence for an instant. Then a guarded tattoo of knocks on the panel of the door. A knock, Garland guessed, taught them by good old Uncle Whit.
“Okay, here we go,” said Claudia, and gave Garland a triumphant look. “Remember your company manners.”
She glided to the door, her red gown hugging her opulent hips and her slim waist. Her dress was long. It swept the floor and it accentuated every curve and hollow of the well-used body. She could be proud of how she looked, how she moved. She graduated magna cum laude in every way.
She opened the door, and the lamplight touched the two young men.
Garland had appraised them accurately. They wore well-fitting suits and open shirts. The taller one had a close-clipped beard, dark and sleek. Promising and intelligent. The other, of medium height but with broad shoulders, looked powerfully muscled. Undoubtedly undergraduates at Ellerby College. Fine prospects, both of them.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” Claudia gave them her personal, hospitable smile.
“Good evening, ma’am,” said the dark one, like a spokesman. He would be for Garland, thought Claudia. For her the other, the sturdy one.
“Well,” said the tall one. “Well, we thought—” He paused embarrassedly.
“We thought we’d come walking this way,” spoke up the other. “My name’s Guy and this is Larry. We—we’re students.”
“Freshmen,” added Larry. “We go to Ellerby.”
“I see,” Claudia soothed them. “Well, won’t you come in?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Guy gratefully. They entered together and stood side by side. Their smiles were diffident. Claudia closed the door behind them.
Larry studied the parlor with politely curious eyes. “This is a great place,” he offered. “Wonderful. It’s—well, it’s nostalgic.”
“Thank you,” Garland smiled to him. “Come sit here and see if this couch wasn’t more or less made for you.”
He hesitated, but only for a moment. Then he paced toward the couch. He wore handsome shiny boots. He and Garland sat down together and Claudia held out her hand to Guy.
“You look like somebody I used to know,” she said, slitting her silvery eyes at him. “He played football at State. Came visiting here.”
“Maybe all football players look alike,” Guy smiled back. “I came to Ellerby to play tight end, if I can make it.”
Beside Larry on the couch, Garland turned on her personality. It was as if she pressed a button to set it free.
“Would you like a glass of this port?” she asked. “It’s very good.”
“Let me do it.” He took the bottle and poured. His hand trembled just a trifle. “Here.” And he held out the glass.
“No, it’s for you,” she said. “I’ll wait until later.”
Larry sipped. “Delicious.”
“Yes, only the best for our friends.”
“We surely appreciate this, ma’am,” he said, sipping again.
“You may call me Garland.”
Claudia had seated Guy in a heavily soft armchair and had perched herself on its arm. They were whispering and chuckling together.
“Larry,” said Garland, “you look to me as if you’ve been around a lot.”
“Maybe my looks are deceptive,” he said, brown eyes upon her. “I—I’ve never been at a place like this before.”
Garland edged closer to him. “Tell me a little about yourself.”
“Oh, I’m just a freshman at Ellerby. Nothing very exciting about that.”
“But it must be.” She edged even closer. “Just being on campus must be exciting. Come on, tell me more.”
She put her hand on his. He took it in his warm clasp.
“Well, freshman year is rough.” He seemed to have difficulty talking. “There’s no hazing at Ellerby any more, not exactly, but you have to take a lot of stuff to get ready to be a sophomore.”
She pulled his young arm around her shoulder and began to count the fingers on his hand with delicate little taps. Across the room, Claudia was sitting on Guy’s lap, pulling his ear. They seemed to have come to good terms.
“This is really a great house,” Larry said slowly. “It’s—” He gulped. “It’s nice,” he said.
And right here it would come, Garland thought, something about how she was too lovely a girl to be in such a sordid business. To her relief, he didn’t say it. Again she must take the initiative. She pulled his hand to where it could envelop her soft breast and held it there.
“Like it?” she whispered.
He must know what was coming, but plainly he was drowned in all sorts of conflicting emotions. Uncle Whit hadn’t coached him, not nearly enough. He looked around the lamplit room with his eyes that were somehow plaintive. His beard seemed to droop.
“All right, Larry,” said Garland, “come with me.”
She got up and tugged his hand to make him get to his feet. He smiled. Of course, get him somewhere away from Claudia and Guy, there so cozy in the armchair. She picked up a lamp and led him into the hall.
“Wow,” he said. “That staircase. Spiral. Looks like something in a historical movie.”
“Does it?”
The staircase wound up into dark reaches. Gently Garland guided him and he seemed glad to be guided. She shepherded him past the torn spots in the carpeting, away from the shaky stretch of the balustrade, up to the hall above. She held up the lamp. It showed the faded roses on the carpet.
“Here,” she said, “this is my room.”
She opened the heavy door and pushed it inward. They stepped across the threshold together. She set the lamp on a table near the oriel window.
“I swear, Garland,” he muttered, “this is great. That old four-poster bed, the bench—they must be worth a lot. They’re old.”
“Older than I am,” she smiled at him.
“You’re not old, Garland. You’re beautiful.”
“So are you,” she told him truthfully.
They sat down on the bed. It had a cover of deep blue velvet, with dim gold tassels. Larry seemed overwhelmed.
“I can’t tell you how lovely all this is,” he stammered.
“Then don’t try. Put your feet up. That’s right. Now relax.”
He sank back. She pulled the loose shirt collar wider. “What a beautiful neck you have.”
“Oh,” he said, “it’s Guy who’s got the neck. All those exercises, those weights he lifts.”
“Let Claudia attend to Guy. You’re here with me.”
Outside the door, a soft rustling. Garland paid no attention. Larry was quiet now, his eyes closed. Garland bent to him, her tender fingers massaging his temples, his neck. He breathed rhythmically, as though he slept.
