routine they go into. First they decide that the guy who gave the unpalatable advice must be a subversive bastard, or he wouldn’t say unpleasant things like that. And then they look around for somebody who’ll give them the answer they want. Well, it’s never hard to find a man who’ll tell a Senator what he wants to hear. Only now it turns out that I was right after all.”
She looked relieved. “Then you should feel very good about it, darling.”
I nodded. “Sure,” I said. “I feel swell about it. I just love to have a hundred and sixty-three men die to prove me right. Good night, Princess.”
“Greg!”
I looked back. “They tested it, Princess,” I said softly. “I told them we didn’t know enough yet, but they tested it anyway. It wiped out Northrop and his whole crew. That’s very confidential information, so don’t tell anybody I told you. Just how they’re going to keep a hundred and sixty-three families from learning papa’s dead…!” I drew a long breath. “Good night, Princess. I’ve got a date with a nightmare.”
I went down the hall to my room. Early in our marriage we had discovered that, both being temperamental and used to privacy, we got more sleep and family harmony by occupying separate rooms except on special occasions. Natalie, therefore, had the big master bedroom adjoining the bathroom; while I used the smaller of the two rooms across the hall for sleeping, and the larger as a combination gunroom, trophy room, and study—it also was supplied with a studio couch so that it could serve as guest room when needed. My bedroom was fairly bare; I had resisted all Natalie’s efforts to have it decorated. I don’t like to feel that I’m part of an artistic composition when I’m trying to sleep. I got out of my clothes and into pajamas, went into the bathroom and took a one-and-a-half-grain Nembutal—all the propaganda against barbiturates notwithstanding, there’s nothing like a sedative when you really need to sleep—and went to bed. I lay there for about an hour before the pill went to work.
Then there was this red light flashing in the middle of the instrument board and with each flash the warning bells would scream throughout the building and everybody else was running away but I couldn’t move a muscle. I woke up sweating. The light was on and Natalie was bending over me.
“It’s Larry on the phone again,” she said.
I said, “If the wires blew down, he’d die of frustration. What does he want now? Incidentally, what’s the time?”
“Twelve-thirty. He wants you to come over.”
“Over where?”
“His house. Jack’s there. Larry says he’s in bad shape. Drunk or something. Larry wants you to talk to him.”
I said, “Do you mind driving me? I’m full of Nembutal.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “I’ll be ready as soon as you are.”
SEVEN
IT WAS ONE of those brilliantly clear nights they often have out here, particularly in winter. You could see more stars than an easterner ever dreamed of. It was cold, and I was glad Natalie had handed me my big, fur-collared, down-insulated hunting jacket instead of some more refined garment. Herself she had wrapped in the usual minks. The heater of the Pontiac had barely time to start functioning properly before we reached our destination.
“Should I wait out here?” Natalie asked.
I looked at the lighted windows. “It looks as if everybody’s up. You can come on in and talk to Ruth.”
She grimaced. “That’ll be a real treat,” she said and got out of the car. I closed the door after her. As we moved up the walk, she took my arm, saying, “I’m sorry. I’ll be good. I’ve been very good lately, haven’t I?”
“Is that what it is?” I asked. “I noticed you hadn’t been acting at all natural.”
She laughed, squeezing my arm. “Darling, that’s what I love about you. You’re such a rewarding person to do things for.”
The house looked about like ours, except that it was
She looked relieved. “Then you should feel very good about it, darling.”
I nodded. “Sure,” I said. “I feel swell about it. I just love to have a hundred and sixty-three men die to prove me right. Good night, Princess.”
“Greg!”
I looked back. “They tested it, Princess,” I said softly. “I told them we didn’t know enough yet, but they tested it anyway. It wiped out Northrop and his whole crew. That’s very confidential information, so don’t tell anybody I told you. Just how they’re going to keep a hundred and sixty-three families from learning papa’s dead…!” I drew a long breath. “Good night, Princess. I’ve got a date with a nightmare.”
I went down the hall to my room. Early in our marriage we had discovered that, both being temperamental and used to privacy, we got more sleep and family harmony by occupying separate rooms except on special occasions. Natalie, therefore, had the big master bedroom adjoining the bathroom; while I used the smaller of the two rooms across the hall for sleeping, and the larger as a combination gunroom, trophy room, and study—it also was supplied with a studio couch so that it could serve as guest room when needed. My bedroom was fairly bare; I had resisted all Natalie’s efforts to have it decorated. I don’t like to feel that I’m part of an artistic composition when I’m trying to sleep. I got out of my clothes and into pajamas, went into the bathroom and took a one-and-a-half-grain Nembutal—all the propaganda against barbiturates notwithstanding, there’s nothing like a sedative when you really need to sleep—and went to bed. I lay there for about an hour before the pill went to work.
Then there was this red light flashing in the middle of the instrument board and with each flash the warning bells would scream throughout the building and everybody else was running away but I couldn’t move a muscle. I woke up sweating. The light was on and Natalie was bending over me.
“It’s Larry on the phone again,” she said.
I said, “If the wires blew down, he’d die of frustration. What does he want now? Incidentally, what’s the time?”
“Twelve-thirty. He wants you to come over.”
“Over where?”
“His house. Jack’s there. Larry says he’s in bad shape. Drunk or something. Larry wants you to talk to him.”
I said, “Do you mind driving me? I’m full of Nembutal.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “I’ll be ready as soon as you are.”
SEVEN
IT WAS ONE of those brilliantly clear nights they often have out here, particularly in winter. You could see more stars than an easterner ever dreamed of. It was cold, and I was glad Natalie had handed me my big, fur-collared, down-insulated hunting jacket instead of some more refined garment. Herself she had wrapped in the usual minks. The heater of the Pontiac had barely time to start functioning properly before we reached our destination.
“Should I wait out here?” Natalie asked.
I looked at the lighted windows. “It looks as if everybody’s up. You can come on in and talk to Ruth.”
She grimaced. “That’ll be a real treat,” she said and got out of the car. I closed the door after her. As we moved up the walk, she took my arm, saying, “I’m sorry. I’ll be good. I’ve been very good lately, haven’t I?”
“Is that what it is?” I asked. “I noticed you hadn’t been acting at all natural.”
She laughed, squeezing my arm. “Darling, that’s what I love about you. You’re such a rewarding person to do things for.”
The house looked about like ours, except that it was
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