Pearl in the Mist (Landry 2)

"No she's not. You saw she's not."

"I don't mean her legs, I mean . . . her . . . her, . ."

"She's just the spoiled, selfish young lady you created," I said.

Daphne stood there fuming.

"I don't care about making appearances anymore," she said. "When she wakes up, you can tell her that, come hell or high water, you and she are going back to Greenwood. That's final." She looked about. "I'll have to contract with a cleaning agency to come in here and clean and repair this house, and the expense will come out of y'all's spending money. Tell her that too."

"Maybe you should tell her yourself."

"Don't you be insolent." She nodded. "I know why you let this go on. You were probably not even here when it all happened, were you? You and your loverboy were probably somewhere else, weren't you?" she accused. I felt my face turning crimson. It convinced her she was right. "Well, I'm not

surprised," she said. "So much for giving people second chances."

"I'm sorry this happened, Daphne," I said. I didn't want her to find a way to blame Beau. "I really am. I couldn't stop it from happening. Gisselle was in charge. These were all her friends. I'm not trying to pass the blame. That's just the way it was. They wouldn't have listened to me no matter what. Whenever I complain about something they do, Gisselle laughs at me and calls me names. She turns them against me, and I have no power or authority over them."

"This is your house too, you know," Daphne said pointedly.

"You've never let me feel that way. But I'm still sorry this happened," I said.

"Just go to sleep. We'll deal with it tomorrow. Up until now, this was one of the best New Year's Eves I've had in a long time."

She started out.

"Happy New Year to you too," I mumbled, then went up to bed.

Gisselle didn't stir until after twelve the next day, but neither did Daphne. I had breakfast with Bruce.

"She's pretty angry," he said. "but I'll calm her down. I don't think I can keep her from sending you both back to Greenwood, however."

"I don't care," I said. At this point I just wanted to get away. After breakfast, I went out on the patio by the pool and slept in the sun. A little after one o'clock, I felt a shadow move over me and opened my eyes to see Gisselle. She looked devastated. Her hair was disheveled, her face was as pale as a dead fish. She wore a pair of sunglasses and a robe, under which she was still dressed in last night's lingerie.

"Daphne

said you blamed it all on me," she said.

"I just told her the truth."

"Did you tell her you were upstairs with Beau all night?" "We weren't upstairs all night, but I didn't have to tell her. She figured it out."

"Couldn't you make something up, blame it on one of our guests or something?"

"Who would believe such a story, Gisselle? What's the difference? You didn't care very much last night when I tried to get you and your friends to clean up. Maybe if we had, it wouldn't have been as bad."

"Thanks," she said. "You know what she said now, don't you? We have to go back to Greenwood. She won't listen to anything I say. I've never seen her so angry."

"Maybe it's for the best."

"You would say that. You don't care: You're having a good time at Greenwood, doing well in your work, enjoying your Miss Stevens and Louis."

"Louis is gone, and I would hardly say I was having a good time at a school where the principal tried to expel me because of something you did," I reminded her.

"So why do you want to go back?"

"I'm just tired of fighting with Daphne. I don't know. I'm just tired."

"Just stupid is more like it. Stupid and selfish."