The American Lady(23)

“Aha—now you’re the one mentioning Thomas!” Marie said triumphantly.

“And I’d rather cut my tongue out than ever mention him again!” Ruth replied, grinning. “As for Wanda, perhaps she’ll become a little easier to deal with once she and Harold are married.” She bit her lip. “If only they already were . . . I’m sure the two of them have hardly done more than kiss—not that I want Wanda to do more than that, don’t misunderstand me—but I am a little surprised that they are so much like brother and sister. When I remember how I felt back then with . . . Thomas . . . I could hardly wait to lie in his arms. And then once Wanda was on the way we couldn’t get married fast enough . . .” She smiled at the thought.

“Perhaps Harold just isn’t the man of her dreams,” Marie said, thinking of Magnus. She had never been swept away by emotion when he took her in his arms, and when they made love it was more for his sake than for her pleasure. “Perhaps some women simply don’t have as great an erotic appetite as others.”

Ruth looked at Marie skeptically. “Be that as it may, I hope Harold proposes to Wanda soon. Steven says that he has to get ahead in his career first. But the way I see it, she couldn’t hope to find a better man.”

“Ruth!” Marie said, outraged. “You sound as though you can hardly wait to get rid of your daughter. Wanda is only eighteen—isn’t that rather young to marry?”

“What should she be waiting for?” Ruth replied. “To meet the wrong man and then make the same mistake I did? Or to find some job that takes up all her time and energy, and then become a bitter old maid? Just imagine, in the spring she even came up with the idea of becoming a nurse! I thought my ears were deceiving me. My Wanda, in a bloodsmeared surgical gown? Thank heavens a friend of mine found her a job in a gallery not long after that.” She shook her head, appalled. “A nurse—as though any man would ever be interested in marrying her after she’d seen such things and worked herself half to death!”

“But if she wants to help people, shouldn’t you be happy about that? Once she’s spent some time emptying bedpans and changing soiled bandages, I daresay the work would lose a little of its charm. The way you keep forbidding Wanda from pursuing her dreams just makes her all the more determined.”

“What nonsense! Nobody wants to stop her from helping the needy. I go to the hospital once a week myself and read to the patients. I’ve asked her often enough whether she wants to come with me. But that hardly means that she should make a career of it.”

“If your daughter has even the slightest trace of your own stubbornness, you’ll have a hard time making her into the compliant little miss you seem to want,” Marie said. She gave Ruth a gentle dig in the ribs. “And now it’s time for you to test me on yesterday’s vocabulary. I want to have a go at the next chapter in my English textbook later this evening.”

Ruth groaned. “Not again! Can’t we skip class just for once? You already speak wonderful English.”

“But I want to understand as well. I still have trouble with that,” Marie answered stoically as she opened her phrase book.



She had been pounding the pavement all day. There was a secretarial opening not far from Harold’s bank—and Wanda fondly imagined how they would meet for lunch each day. And another job at the Municipal School Board, where she would be in charge of handing out free textbooks to needy children. And a position as receptionist at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. All her efforts were in vain. The men in gray suits who interviewed her needed only a moment to spot the link between her name and Miles Enterprises and then suddenly decided that she was too young for the post. Or it was already taken. Only the man at the Waldorf Astoria had told her straight out that they had been disappointed already by “young ladies of your background” who spent most of their time flirting with the guests rather than getting to work. Wanda hadn’t bothered to reply that she would take her work very seriously if only somebody would give her a job!

It had been a long and frustrating day, and now her ankles were swollen, her legs ached, and a dull anger gnawed at her belly. She wanted nothing more than to creep into her room for the rest of the evening. On the other hand, given the way her mother monopolized Marie’s every waking moment, she had hardly gotten to see her aunt. And she was hungry too. So despite her bad mood, she sat down for dinner with her parents and Aunt Marie. Lou-Ann’s eyes shone with pride as she dished up a potato gratin that Marie had specifically requested. Her mother eyed the crispy cheese crust suspiciously and held her hand over her plate to stop Lou-Ann from serving her more than a mere spoonful, but Wanda asked for a double helping. It was time to see what kind of food her country cousins in Thuringia ate.