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PARTISAN REVIEW
call out for it, and (B-in whi ch he was very much a child o f hi s
time) h e considered locking the ba th room door a sign of p ara–
nOIa.
40. In w hat way was th is a bad m ove?
Peopl e gen era ll y do no t like their ni ece's hu sbands to
surprise th em in the ba throom .
4
I. Was H enry embarrassed about barging in?
"Oop s, sorry!" h e excl a imed. " I just came in to wash my
face! It's so humid! Boy ! I'll let you fini sh !"
"Tha t would be good of you, Henry," said Roy.
Natura ll y he was emba rrassed , but worse was
to
come a
minute later when Roy passed him in the kitchen . "Sorry about
th at," he said, rin sing hi s face with a mo ist paper n ap kin .
"About wha t?" said Roy , " I' ve a lready fo rgotten it. " He
began to pour himself a scotch .
"Oh I think," ventured H enry, dabbing around hi s neck, " I
think your bourbon is waiting for you on the pa ti o ."
"Lucky me," said Roy. " Well , 1 gu ess 1 can handl e the bo th
o f th em. "
"'Lucky Me,''' repea ted eager, wire-bra ined H enr y. "Wasn 't
th a t th e n ame o f your fir st hit son g?"
Roy was well pl eased. But h e looked as if he were going to
hit H enry.
" You big boozer," h e said threa tening ly, p utting down the
drink . " You littl e rummy. Since wh en do you know about my
pas t, you lush ?Think you caught me bein g sentimental, making
p ri va te jokes?" He came towards Henry with the wide, circl ing
arms of a performing wres tl er. " You have no t li ved until you
h ave been in on e of my famou s four-hour headl ocks."
"Wa it wait," gabbl ed Henry, utterin g a laugh. "Ow, ow,"
he ye lped just before Roy grabbed him by th e neck and the wa ist
and bent him like a fluff y pipe cleaner. " My bli sters!"
Gentl y, manfull y, Roy turned hi s advantage into a p a tern al
hug. With on e hand he buried H enry's h ead in hi s big shoulder,
pa tting and rubbing. " I'd n ever hurt you ," he told H enry in a
vo ice thi ck with emo tion , "you know I'd n ever hurt you.
Henry," he said, rockin g them bo th , "you 're a good man , H enry.
You 're going to be a good fa th er. And H enri etta," he inha led
