He did realize that he must be in the sept of a wealthy family. But what his status was nobody mentioned, nor could he figure out status of others. Two of the youngest women dropped him curtseys. He thought the first had stumbled and tried to help her. But when the second did it, he answered by pressing his palms together.
The older women seemed to expect him to treat them with respect. Judge Bruder he could not classify. He hadn’t been introduced as a relative — yet this was a family dinner. He fixed Thorby with an appraising eye and barked, “Glad to have you back, young man! There should be a Rudbek at Rudbek. Your holiday has caused trouble — hasn’t it, John?”
“More than a bit,” agreed Uncle Jack, “but well get straightened out. No hurry. Give the lad a chance to find himself.”
“Surely, surely. Thumb in the dike.”
Thorby wondered what a dike was, but Leda came up and placed her hand on his elbow. She steered him to the banquet hall; others followed. Thorby sat at one end of a long table with Uncle Jack at the other; Aunt Jennifer was on Thorby’s right and Leda on his left. Aunt Jennifer started asking questions and supplying answers. He admitted that he had just left the Guard, she had trouble understanding that he had not been an officer; he let it ride and mentioned nothing about Jubbulpore — Leda had made him wary of the subject. It did not matter; he asked a question about New Zealand and received a guidebook lecture.
Then Leda turned from Judge Bruder and spoke to Thorby; Aunt Jennifer turned to the man on her right.
The tableware was in part strange, especially chop tongs and skewers. But spoons were spoons and forks were forks; by keeping his eye on Leda he got by. Food was served formally, but he had seen Grandmother so served; table manners were not great trouble to a man coached by Fritz’s sharp-tongued kindness.
Not until the end was he stumped. The Butler-in-Chief presented him with an enormous goblet, splashed wetness in it and waited. Leda said softly, “Taste it, nod, and put it down.” He did so; as the butler moved away, she whispered, “Don’t drink it, it’s bottled lightning. By the way, I told Daddy, ‘No toasts.’ ”
At last the meal was over. Leda again cued him. “Stand up.” He did and everyone followed.
The “family dinner” was just a beginning. Uncle Jack was in evidence only at dinners, and not always then. He excused his absences with, “Someone has to keep the fires burning. Business won’t wait.” As a trader Thorby understood that Business was Business, but he looked forward to a long talk with Uncle Jack, instead of so much social life. Leda was helpful but not informative. “Daddy is awfully busy. Different companies and things. It’s too complicated for me. Let’s hurry; the others are waiting.”
Others were always waiting. Dancing, skiing — Thorby loved the flying sensation but considered it a chancy way to travel, particularly when he fetched up in a snow bank, having barely missed a tree — card parties, dinners with young people at which he took one end of the table and Leda the other, more dancing, hops to Yellowstone to feed the bears, midnight suppers, garden parties. Although Rudbek estate lay in the lap of the Tetons with snow around it, the house had an enormous tropical garden under a dome so pellucid that Thorby did not realize it was there until Leda had him touch it. Leda’s friends were fun and Thorby gradually became sophisticated in small talk. The young men called him “Thor” instead of “Rudbek” and called Leda “Slugger.” They treated him with familiar respect, and showed interest in the fact that he had been in the Guard and had visited many worlds; but they did not press personal questions. Thorby volunteered little, having learned his lesson.
But he began to tire of fun. A Gathering was wonderful but a working man expects to work.
The matter came to a head. A dozen of them were skiing and Thorby was alone on the practice slope. A man glided down and snowplowed to a stop. People hopped in and out at the estate’s field day and night; this newcomer was Joel de la Croix.
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114