"Really? Extraordinary! What happened to her first husband?" she asked. I didn't know what to say.
"They didn't tell me that."
She nodded in understanding.
"Are you going to see them again soon?" she asked. "No. They're off to see her family and then they're going on a combined business trip and honeymoon."
My mother burst out laughing. Even Troy, who had been sitting quietly by his trains and listening to me, looked up with a confused but wide smile on his face.
"Isn't that just like him? He'll make his own honeymoon into a tax deduction." She started out of Troy's suite and turned. "Oh, did you tell him about your modeling for the portrait doll?"
She had tried to ask the question nonchalantly, but from the way her body had tensed, I suddenly realized she had more than a passing curiosity in my answer.
"Yes." I refused to elaborate. If she so badly wanted to know what I had told Daddy, then let her ask! I wasn't going to make things any easier--she hadn't for me.
She studied me for a moment. Was it my imagination or had her eyes suddenly filled with apprehension? I studied her eyes more closely. Yes, there was definitely apprehension . . . and fear! I watched her swallow over the lump in her throat and she could barely get her next words out: "What did he say?"
I gave her a pointed stare. "He thought it was wonderful. What else would he say?"
Relief washed over her beautiful features. She knew I hadn't told Daddy the truth. "You're a very wise and intelligent young lady for your age, Leigh. I'm proud of you. Oh, Tony and I are going out for dinner. We've been invited to the Ambersons'. You know who Mr. Amberson is, don't you?" She didn't wait for me to answer. "He's a multimillionaire who owns tons of paper mills. He's got oodles of money and can have anything his heart desires. Anything!"
Was that all she cared about? Money? Possessions? Had her love for luxury and wealth overpowered her love for me? I wondered more and more with each passing day.
"By the way," she continued as she breezed out of Troy's suite, "Tony told me to tell you he'll need you for just a little while tomorrow morning and then he's finished with his work here. Isn't that exciting?"
Before I could answer she was gone, heading to her suite to bathe and dress for dinner.
I slammed the door of the suite in anger. Troy looked at me with scared eyes. How I wanted to scream at Momma! Once again she had told me what to do without thought or consideration of my feelings.
With each passing day the web Momma had ensnared me in was becoming tighter and tighter. Where would it all end? I fearfully wondered.
Tony wasn't at breakfast the following morning. Momma explained that he had risen early and had already gone to the cottage to work. I was to follow as soon as I was finished with my own breakfast. I ate slowly, while she described their dinner at the Ambersons'. After a while I stopped listening and her voice droned on over my thoughts. I was feeling much more nervous about this final session with Tony than I had felt about all the others. Maybe it was just a result of all the dramatic and terribly emotional things that had been happening to me.
Finally, I left the table, went up to my suite and made some final touches on my hair, and then started out for the cottage. It was a bright morning, warmer than most. The ocean breezes were very slight and the clouds seemed pasted to the aqua sky. Even the birds which were usually quite active and noisy were placid. They stared down at me with jeweled eyes in anticipation. I heard the whir of lawn mowers on the far corners of the grounds and caught the cry of a tern, but other than that, the world seemed like a gigantic painting on a gigantic canvas.
All this made the stillness and isolation of the maze even more intense. The shadows were darker, deeper and longer. Cool spots were cooler and the scent of the freshly cut hedges was pungent. Instead of feeling as if I were moving through tunnels though, I felt as if I were dropping deeper and deeper into a world of mystery. I looked back once and saw the roof of Farthy just before it disappeared behind a tail hedge. For no reason I could figure out I panicked and ran the rest of the way, bursting out by the cottage. I stopped and caught my breath. Then, feeling foolish, I wiped my face with my handkerchief, brushed back my hair, corrected my posture and went to the cottage.
Tony was hovering over the clay model, his hands over it as if he were about to seize it and press it to him. He looked up sharply when I entered and straightened quickly.
"I couldn't wait for you this morning," he said. "I was that eager to finish up. Just sit there," he said pointing to the couch. "All I want to do this morning is make some final touches on the doll's face. So," he said as I took my seat and faced him, "you went to see your father yesterday." He began working with a tiny tool.
"Yes."
"But all didn't go well?" he asked. I shifted my eyes to him quickly. He saw I was wondering how he knew that. "Miles told me," he added softly.
"I didn't say anything to your mother though." He winked. "I gather, from what you told her, that neither did you."
"I didn't want to upset her."
"Yes. So what happened to upset you? Just turn a little to the right. A little more. Fine."
"My father remarried," I said.
"And you didn't know about it until then?"
"That's right."
He shook his head.