“And then suddenly everything was perfectly clear. Mimi, of course—I’d forgotten her entirely. She was waiting in the gardener’s cottage now, probably, and if I went to her there and explained to her all about Polly and Pete, and how frightfully important it was that they should be taken care of until they could take care of themselves, she would realize what she was doing. She was so young and pretty and careless that she probably hadn’t ever given them a thought. It wasn’t cruelty—it was just a reckless desire to be happy. But once she knew—I’d tell her all about Pat’s ghastly childhood and the nightmare that my own life had been, and I’d implore her to stop and think what she was doing. Once she had stopped—once she had thought—she wouldn’t do it, of course. I felt fifty years younger, and absolutely lightheaded with relief.
“I looked at my little wristwatch; it said ten minutes to nine. If I waited until nine it would be almost dark, and would still give me plenty of time to catch her before she left. It wouldn’t take me more than fifteen minutes to get to the cottage, and I much preferred not to have anyone know what I was planning to do. No one would miss me if I got back by ten; I often sat in the garden until then, and I had a little flashlight in the straw bag that I used at such times, and that would serve my purpose excellently coming home across the meadows.
“I decided not to go back to the house at all, but simply to slip out by the little gate near the sandpile and strike out on the path that cut diagonally across the fields to the Thorne place. There were no houses between us and Orchards, so I would be perfectly safe from observation. By the time I had gathered up my gardening things and looked again at my watch it was a little after nine, and I decided that it wouldn’t be safe to wait any longer.
“It was a very pleasant walk across the fields; it was still just light enough to see, and the clover smelled very sweet, and the tree toads were making a comforting little noise, and I walked quite fast, planning just what I would say to Mimi—planning just how reasonable and gentle and persuasive and convincing I was going to be.
“The path comes out at an opening in the hedge to the left of the gardener’s cottage. I pushed through it and came up to the front steps; there was a light in the right-hand window. I went straight up the steps. The front door was open a little, and I pushed it open farther and went in. There was a key on the inside of the door. I hesitated for a moment, and then I closed it and turned the key and dropped it into my bag. I was afraid that she might try to leave before I’d finished explaining to her; I didn’t want her to do that.
“She heard me then, and called out from the other room, ‘For heaven’s sake, what’s been the matter? I didn’t think that you were ever coming.’
“She had her back turned as I came into the room; she was looking into the mirror over the piano and fluffing out her hair. There was a lamp lit on the piano and it made her hair look like flames—she really was extraordinarily beautiful, if that red-and-white-and-gold-and-blue type appeals to you. Trudie’d had a mouth that curled just that way, and those same ridiculous eyelashes. And then she saw me in the mirror and in three seconds that radiant face turned into a mask of suspicion and cruelty and malice. She whirled around and stood there looking me over from head to foot.
“After a moment she said, ‘What are you doing here?
“I said, ‘I came about Pat, Madeleine.’
“She said, ‘Oh, you did, did you? So that’s his game—hiding behind a woman’s skirts! Well, you can go home and tell him to come out.’
“I said, ‘He doesn’t know that I’m here. I found the note.’
“Mimi said, ‘They can send you to jail for taking other people’s letters. Spying and stealing from your own son! I should think you’d be ashamed. And what good do you think it’s going to do you?’
“I came closer to her and said, ‘Never mind me, Madeleine, I came here tonight to implore you to leave my son alone.’
“And she laughed at me—she laughed! ‘Well, you could have saved yourself the walk. When he gets here, I’ll tell him what I think of the two of you.’
“I said, ‘He’s not coming. He’s playing poker at the Dallases.’
“She went scarlet to her throat with anger, and she called out, ‘That’s a lie! He’s coming and you know it. Will you get out of here?’
“I said, ‘Madeleine, listen to me. I swear to you that any happiness you purchase at the price that you’re willing to pay for it will rot in your hands, no matter how much you love him.’
“And she laughed!
