Page 234 - tender-is-the-night

ciously.
‘Mad Anthony Wayne?’
‘I think there’s enough madness in this affair.’
He shook his head hopelessly, just as Nicole came out on
the hotel terrace and looked around for them.
‘He was too mad to leave as much money as Marshall
Field,’ he said.
‘That’s all very well—‘
Baby was right and she knew it. Face to face, her fa-
ther would have it on almost any clergyman. They were an
American ducal family without a title—the very name writ-
ten in a hotel register, signed to an introduction, used in
a difficult situation, caused a psychological metamorphosis
in people, and in return this change had crystallized her
own sense of position. She knew these facts from the Eng-
lish, who had known them for over two hundred years. But
she did not know that twice Dick had come close to flinging
the marriage in her face. All that saved it this time was Ni-
cole finding their table and glowing away, white and fresh
and new in the September afternoon.
How do you do, lawyer. We’re going to Como tomorrow
for a week and then back to Zurich. That’s why I wanted you
and sister to settle this, because it doesn’t matter to us how
much I’m allowed. We’re going to live very quietly in Zu-
rich for two years and Dick has enough to take care of us.
No, Baby, I’m more practical than you think—It’s only for
clothes and things I’ll need it... . Why, that’s more than—can
the estate really afford to give me all that? I know I’ll never
manage to spend it. Do you have that much? Why do you

234 Tender is the Night