forward to sweep Julian into his arms. Go to your
room, Heaven. Stay there until I come and have a
chance to talk to you." He carried Jillian to her
bedroom, and I watched him lay her carefully on her
ivory satin spread, and only then did her mute anguish
find its voice.
Over and over she screamed! Hysterical rising
and falling screams that buckled her back and flailed
her arms, and as I stood there almost paralyzed by
what I'd brought about, I watched the youth peel from
her face as if all the time she'd worn a mask of onion
peelings.
I turned away, appalled by what I'd done, overwhelmed with grief to have destroyed what had been
so carefully cultivated.
In my rooms I paced the floor, forgetting everything but Troy and his welfare. On occasion my
thoughts flitted to Jillian and what havoc I'd wrought.
Then Tony was rapping on the door and coming in
without waiting for my response. He saw that I was
packing my suitcases and winced. "Jill is asleep now,"
he informed. "I had to force her to swallow a few
sedatives."
"Will she be all right?" I asked worriedly. He sat with a certain kind of indifference on the
frailest of my silk brocaded chairs, elegantly crossing
his legs, taking pains to tug up his trouser legs and
keep the creases sharp. And only when he'd seen to all
the little details only a man of impeccable taste
thought important did he smile in a crooked ironic
way. "No, Jill will never be 'all right.' She hasn't been right since the day your mother ran away. She had always refused to talk about that last day . . and only
now do I have all the pieces together."
Quickly I sat down in the twin chair to his,