Page 364 - tender-is-the-night

Tell Franz that, to show him it’s important; and ask him to
phone me from up there.’
‘I will.’
‘Tell him I’ll be in my room here at the hotel from three
to five, and again from seven to eight, and after that to page
me in the dining-room.’
In plotting these hours he forgot to add that Nicole was
not to be told; when he remembered it he was talking into a
dead telephone. Certainly Kaethe should realize.
... Kaethe had no exact intention of telling Nicole about
the call when she rode up the deserted hill of mountain wild-
flowers and secret winds, where the patients were taken to
ski in winter and to climb in spring. Getting off the train
she saw Nicole shepherding the children through some or-
ganized romp. Approaching, she drew her arm gently along
Nicole’s shoulder, saying: ‘You are clever with children—you
must teach them more about swimming in the summer.’
In the play they had grown hot, and Nicole’s reflex in
drawing away from Kaethe’s arm was automatic to the point
of rudeness. Kaethe’s hand fell awkwardly into space, and
then she too reacted, verbally, and deplorably.
‘Did you think I was going to embrace you?’ she demand-
ed sharply. ‘It was only about Dick, I talked on the phone to
him and I was sorry—‘
‘Is anything the matter with Dick?’
Kaethe suddenly realized her error, but she had taken a
tactless course and there was no choice but to answer as Ni-
cole pursued her with reiterated questions: ‘... then why were
you sorry?’

364 Tender is the Night