The Last Heroes (Men at War 1)

NINE

Deal, New Jersey 4:30 P.M., December 9, 1941

Donovan found Barbara Whittaker in the breakfast room.

‘‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to be going, Barbara,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re driving and . . .’’

‘‘I’m glad you could come,’’ she said. ‘‘It was a nice funeral, I thought. Just his friends, really.’’

‘‘The President wanted to come,’’ Donovan said.

‘‘He telephoned just a few minutes ago,’’ she said. ‘‘After what Chesty called him, and to his face, I thought it was a nice thing to do.’’

‘‘Franklin forgives those of us who don’t agree with him. He’s convinced we’re just not capable of understanding his noble motives,’’ Donovan said.

‘‘I wonder if Jimmy knows yet,’’ she said.

‘‘We’re trying,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘Communications to the Philippines are a problem.’’

‘‘Franklin said he was trying to help,’’ Barbara said.

‘‘Oh?’’

"He said he had sent word to General MacArthur to find Jimmy and tell him,’’ she said.

‘‘Then by now, Barbara, I would think Jimmy knows. But it will be as difficult for him to get back word from there as it is to reach him.’’

‘‘I was thinking before,’’ she said calmly, ‘‘that if anything should happen to Jimmy over there, the Whittaker name would die with him. I would really hate to see that happen.’’

‘‘I’m sure Jimmy will be all right,’’ Donovan said with a conviction he did not feel.

‘‘Something like this does strange things to you,’’ Barbara said.

‘‘Of course it does,’’ he said comfortingly.

‘‘I was just thinking,’’ she said, ‘‘that it would have been nice if Chesty had made her pregnant.’’

‘‘I beg your pardon?’’ Donovan said, astonished.

‘‘Her,’’ Barbara Whittaker said, nodding out the window.

Donovan looked. Cynthia Chenowith was on the beach, her head wrapped in a kerchief, her hands jammed in the pockets of her trench coat.

Barbara Whittaker smiled at Donovan.

‘‘Don’t be so naive, Bill,’’ she said. ‘‘If you took a young mistress, don’t you think Ruth would know?’’

She smiled at his discomfiture.

‘‘When I saw her out there,’’ Barbara went on, ‘‘I felt sorry for her. After Chesty, what’s left for her? And then I had another thought. I wanted so much for him to have a child. If there was a child, it wouldn’t quite be the end of everything.’’

‘‘There’s something I would like to ask you,’’ Donovan said, wondering if he was asking now because he desperately wanted to change the subject.

‘‘Oh?’’

‘‘I talked with Chesty about this on our way to Washington, ’’ he said, ‘‘and he was willing to let me have the house on Q Street."

‘‘I thought you had a place in Georgetown,’’ she said.