ACROSS the RIVER and INTO the TREES by ERNEST HEMINGWAY

“All right, Daughter. I withdraw the doubt.”

“Thank you. For that I will not go and be a nuisance. I will stay in Venice and go to Mass with Mother and my aunt and my great-aunt and visit my poors. I am an only child so I have many duties.”

“I always wondered what you did.”

“That’s what I do. Also, I’ll have my maid wash my head and give me a manicure and a pedicure.”

“You can’t do that because the shoot is on Sunday.”

“Then I’ll do that on Monday. On Sunday, I will read all the illustrated papers including the outrageous ones.”

“Maybe they’ll have pictures of Miss Bergman. Do you still want to be like her?”

“Not any more,” the girl said. “I want to be like me only much, much better and I want to have you love me.”

“Also,” she said suddenly and unmaskingly, “I want to be like you. Can I be like you a little while tonight?”

“Of course,” the Colonel said. “In what town are we anyway?”

“Venice,” she said. “The best town, I think.”

“I quite agree. And thank you for not asking me for more war episodes.”

“Oh you are going to have to tell them to me later.”

“Have to?” the Colonel said and the cruelty and reso­lution showed in his strange eyes as clearly as when the hooded muzzle of the gun of a tank swings toward you.

“Did you say have to, Daughter?”

“I said it. But I did not mean it in that way. Or, if I did wrong, I am sorry. I meant will you please tell me more true episodes later? And explain me the things I do not understand?”

“You can use have to if you want, Daughter. The hell with it.”

He smiled and his eyes were as kind as they ever were, which was not too kind, as he knew. But there was noth­ing now that he could do about it except to try to be kind to his last and true and only love.

“I don’t really mind, Daughter. Please believe me. I know about command and, at your age, I used to take considerable pleasure in exercising it.”

“But I don’t want to command,” the girl said. In spite of her resolution not to cry, her eyes were wet. “I wish to serve you.”

“I know. But you wish to command, too. There’s noth­ing wrong in that. All people such as us have it.”

“Thank you for the such as us.”

“It wasn’t hard to say,” the Colonel said. “Daughter,” he added.

Just then the concierge came to the table and said, “Excuse me, my Colonel. There is a man outside, I be­lieve he is a servant of yours, my Lady, with quite a large package which he says is for the Colonel. Should I keep it in the storeroom or have it sent to your room?”

“To my room,” the Colonel said

“Please,” the girl said. “Can’t we look at it here? We don’t care about anyone here, do we?”

“Have it unwrapped and brought in here.”

“Very good.”

“Later, you may have it taken with great care to my room and have it wrapped, solidly, for transport at noon tomorrow.”

“Very good, my Colonel.”

“Are you excited to see it?” the girl asked.

“Very,” said the Colonel. “Gran Maestro some more of that Roederer, please, and please place a chair in such a position that we may view a portrait. We are devotees of the pictorial arts.”

“There’s no more Roederer cold,” the Gran Maestro said. “But if you would like some Perrier-Jouet—”

“Bring it,” the Colonel said and added, “Please.”

“I don’t talk like Georgie Patton,” the Colonel told her. “I don’t have to. And besides he’s dead.”

“Poor man.”

“Yes, Poor man all his life. Although quite rich in money and with a lot of armour.”

“Do you have anything against armour?”

“Yes. Most of the people inside of it. It makes men into bullies which is the first step toward cowardice; true cowardice I mean. Perhaps it is a little complicated by claustrophobia.”

Then he looked at her and smiled and regretted taking her beyond her depth, as you might take a new swimmer on a shallow, shelving beach, into too deep water; and he sought to reassure her.

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