THE BLEEDING HEART
"Is
it delicious peanut butter? Oh, thank you," he said joyfully
and from the bed the old woman clamored, "Gratitude!"
The man asked her how she liked Miss Talmadge and if she
were ever homesick for the West and if she did not find her room at
Number 8 rather chilly when the wind came off the river. He said he
imagined she found the fare at the Minute Man cafe pretty much
the same old thing from day to day; swordfish, canned peas, boiled
potatoes. It was a little cold for sitting in the cemetery on Sunday
afternoon nowadays, wasn't it?
"Lonesome, aren't you, little lady?" he said and Waldo warned
from the footboard of the bed, "Just a minute."
She drank the last of the sour tea and returned the cup to the
tray. She drew on her gloves and stood up. "Thank you so much for
the tea," she said, "it was most kind of you."
The old woman beckoned to her and said, "Time."
"Yes, I know. It's time for me to go." She tried to smile warmly.
"No, no," cried her son anxiously, ''she means there's plenty
of time."
But she would not be detained any longer and she moved toward
the door. He was immediately beside her, following her down the
hall as long and as dark as a tunnel. Halfway down Waldo came
bustling after them and walked between them, laughing busily. The
man held Rose's elbow tightly as
if
by the pressure of his fingers he
could communicate the desperate state of his loneliness. "You can't
imagine how awful it is," he confided urgently. "Today you only
saw her company manners, but you should hear the things she says
to me when we're alone." His voice was full of tears. "Rose! Rose,
we're near neighbors. Strictly speaking we live in the same house,
Rose. Won't you come again?"
"I'll try," she said without any pity at all.
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Tomorrow? Oh, no, tomorrow we meet in the library, don't
we? What do you read there?"
She was remote and academic. "I am doing some research work."
"That's wonderful. I knew you were cultured. I went to Harvard.
I dare say you've heard of that little old college down Cambridge
way?"
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