Page 90 - tender-is-the-night

XIV

When they reached Paris Nicole was too tired to go on to
the grand illumination at the Decorative Art Exposition as
they had planned. They left her at the Hotel Roi George, and
as she disappeared between the intersecting planes made by
lobby lights of the glass doors, Rosemary’s oppression lifted.
Nicole was a force—not necessarily well disposed or pre-
dictable like her mother—an incalculable force. Rosemary
was somewhat afraid of her.
At eleven she sat with Dick and the Norths at a house-
boat café just opened on the Seine. The river shimmered
with lights from the bridges and cradled many cold moons.
On Sundays sometimes when Rosemary and her mother
had lived in Paris they had taken the little steamer up to
Suresnes and talked about plans for the future. They had lit-
tle money but Mrs. Speers was so sure of Rosemary’s beauty
and had implanted in her so much ambition, that she was
willing to gamble the money on ‘advantages”; Rosemary in
turn was to repay her mother when she got her start... .
Since reaching Paris Abe North had had a thin vinous
fur over him; his eyes were bloodshot from sun and wine.
Rosemary realized for the first time that he was always stop-
ping in places to get a drink, and she wondered how Mary
North liked it. Mary was quiet, so quiet save for her fre-
quent laughter that Rosemary had learned little about her.

90 Tender is the Night