Shattered Silk

CHAPTER ONE

THEY refused to let her drive them to the airport. National was one of the busiest airports in the country, traffic was terrible; even native Washingtonians avoided it when they could.

"Except for the damned members of Congress," her uncle Pat had bellowed, pounding on the table to emphasize his opinion. "They've got their chauffeurs and their air-conditioned limos, so it's no skin off their butts if the rest of us get high blood pressure and dented fenders trying to reach the damned terminal!"

Which, as her aunt Ruth pointed out, was not only unfair and exaggerated, but irrelevant.

Karen didn't argue. The last she saw of them was her aunt's fixed smile and anxious eyes, framed by the window of the taxi.

The taxi hesitated at the corner and, with an air of squaring its metaphorical shoulders, plunged into the maelstrom of traffic on Wisconsin Avenue. Then at last Karen let her own fixed smile crack and crumble and drop off her face. She rubbed her jaw, wondering if Ruth's face ached too, after all those weeks of determined cheerfulness.

It was a relief to let everything droop-lips, shoulders, spirits. Her feet dragging, she turned back into the house. Though it was only midmorning, the streets of Georgetown shimmered with the heat and humidity that are hallmarks of a Washington summer.

Like the other older homes in this fashionable section of the capital, which had been a flourishing town in its own right before the founders of the new nation moved in across the creek, Ruth's house dated from the early nineteenth century. It was built of red brick, in the formal Federal style, with a classic balance of windows and exterior ornament. Every brick of the facade and every stick of furniture within was familiar to Karen. She had lived with her aunt and uncle for a year while attending college, and had visited often since. But as she stood in the hall facing the famous floating staircase, she had a sensation of utter strangeness.

The change was not in the house but in herself. Only a month ago she had been a suburban housewife, settled in a routine as a fly is embedded in amber, with every reason to suppose her position was as permanent as the fly's. Jack's schedule was as fixed as her own. When he wasn't at the university he was at a meeting or a conference, or closeted in his office working on one of the endless stream of books and articles designed to ensure his rise up the ladder of academic success. When she wasn't doing housework she was typing his manuscripts or checking his footnotes or doing research for him. Everything she did was predictable, even the food she cooked. Jack was a meat-and-potatoes man, with no tolerance for ethnic- and health-food fads.

He had ordered steak the night he told her. He had suggested they go out to dinner, just the two of them-a rare occurrence in recent months. Afterward Karen realized she should have known something was wrong. But she didn't even suspect. His announcement, carefully timed to follow the cocktails, hit her with the stunning shock of a blow in the pit of her stomach.

Jack had mistaken her silence and her empty stare for calm acquiescence. He was relieved, he said, that she hadn't become hysterical. (Actually, he was rather disappointed; and he was visibly annoyed because she didn't eat the expensive meal he had ordered.) After dropping her at home, he had gone on to a meeting-Karen had a pretty good idea who would be at the meeting. The same person who had attended all the other meetings that had kept Jack so busy lately.

She went straight upstairs, packed a single suitcase, and called a cab. There was just enough money in their joint checking account to pay for a ticket to Washington, and she thanked God for modern banking methods as she withdrew cash in the light of the automatic teller.

It never occurred to her to "go home to Mother." When, several days later, she summoned courage enough to break the news to the woman who happened to occupy that role, she received, not an invitation to come home, but a shrill lecture. She must have done something. She must have failed in some way. She should not have left the house. She should have fought for her rights, and for her man…

The diatribe didn't, help Karen's morale, even though she sensed the fear behind her mother's anger. It must be your fault. Because if it isn't-if you were in no way to blame-then this could happen to anyone. It could happen to me.

Not all the wives Karen knew harbored that hidden fear. Her sister Sara, for instance. Sara, who had also lived with Ruth and Pat while she attended Georgetown University, now lived on the West Coast and had her hands full with four exuberant young children and an exuberant, adoring husband. That was one of the reasons why Karen had not sought refuge with her sister, but it wasn't the only reason. Sara's shining happiness would have hurt like salt in a fresh wound.

Ruth, her own mother's sister, was another of the lucky ones. But Ruth and Pat were older, childless, their joy in each other more muted in expression if not in intensity.

On the face of it, Ruth's marriage should not have worked. After a brief and disastrous first marriage, of which she never spoke, she had waited till she was over forty before she married again, to a man who appeared to be her exact antithesis. Pat MacDougal's anthropological studies had taken him into many of the wilder parts of the planet and had invested him with a loud contempt for the hypocritical conventions of civilization, a contempt he was not at all inhibited about expressing. Pat was big and loudmouthed and clumsy; Ruth was petite and prim. Pat had a shock of flaming-red hair and a face that verified the theory of mankind's descent from a simian ancestor; Ruth's delicate features and fine bones were as dainty as those of a porcelain doll. Pat's language echoed with expletives; in moments of dire extremity Ruth had sometimes been heard to murmur a faint damn.

If Karen had wanted to find a scapegoat-and there were times when she definitely did want to-she could have blamed Ruth, not for the failure of her own marriage but for the marriage itself. She had met Jack while she was living with Ruth and Pat. Like Pat, Jack taught at the university. In some ways Jack reminded her of her uncle, the man who had made Ruth so happy she was a menace to single people.

And now Ruth was going with him to Borneo, to keep house in a jungle hut while Pat finished gathering the material for his book on magic and folklore. Ruth with her dainty pastel suits and her immaculate coiffures, Ruth who was now in her fifties. Her face had glowed like that of a bride when she told Karen of their plans.

It was amazing how their needs had happened to coincide, Ruth said. She wasn't worried about snakes or poisonous insects or the lack of sanitation, but she had been concerned about leaving her lovely house unoccupied for three months. She could have rented it-there were always visiting diplomats, politicians, and lobbyists looking for quarters in Washington, and many of them seemed to have more money than they ought to have had-but Ruth had a fastidious dislike of allowing strangers in her home.

"So you see, you're really doing me a favor," she had assured Karen. "An empty house is an invitation to burglars. I only hope…" The little puckers between her brows deepened, and she fell silent.

"You hope what?"

"That you don't mind being alone."

"Not at all. It's just what I need."

Ruth continued to look doubtful. "I'm not so sure. You do need time alone-time to think, plan, and," she added with a slight smile, "swear and scream and kick the furniture. Get your anger out of your system."

"I'm not angry."

"Then you should be." Ruth's voice rose slightly and the delicate pink in her cheeks deepened-for Ruth, unmistakable signs of extreme annoyance.

"Why?" Karen asked reasonably. "Anger doesn't solve anything. I don't blame Jack; it would be dishonest of him to pretend an emotion he no longer feels, and… Well, just look at me! I've rather let myself go the last few years."

Ruth's lips tightened; but for once her self-control failed and the words she had tried to repress burst out. "I'm not going to criticize Jack, but I wish to goodness you'd stop criticizing yourself! There's nothing wrong with being angry. It's much more constructive than resignation and-and self-pity."

Karen was so surprised at this uncharacteristic outburst she didn't notice the insult, but Ruth was immediately repentant. "Darling, I do apologize. I shouldn't have said that."

"Don't worry about me, Ruth. I'll be all right. We all have different ways of handling emotional problems."

"Hmmm. Well, I won't lecture you. But as I was about to say, although solitude serves a useful purpose, you're going to be alone here for an awfully long time. You need someone to talk to. I wish I hadn't agreed to go on this field trip."

"Don't even think of canceling!"

"I'm not. I won't. But I wish…"

"I had someone to talk to? You're forgetting Julie. The problem will be to get her to stop talking."

"Julie doesn't carry on conversations, she delivers monologues. But I am glad you found an old friend who is still in town, and it was thoughtful of her to offer you a job. You need something to occupy your mind."

They had been interrupted at that point by Pat, yelling from the top of the stairs: "Where the hell did I put my damned shoes?" Ruth had gone trotting off to find the missing objects. It was a routine they went through several times a day, and both of them obviously delighted in it.

Now they were gone, and the house felt very empty without them-especially without Pat, whose very passage through a room made small objects rattle and tinkle. Despite her many visits, this was the first time Karen had been alone in the house for more than a few hours-and never at night.

Karen went to the door of the parlor. It was a lovely room, achieving beauty without sacrificing comfort. The big overstuffed sofas in front of the fireplace invited people to relax, at their ease; the bookcases flanking the French windows held not elegant matched sets but a motley collection of books that had obviously been read and reread. The only thing that had changed within Karen's memory was the color scheme, which had once been Wedgwood blue, to match the tiles around the fireplace. The draperies were now soft rose, and the couches had been reupholstered in shades of pink and lilac.

Karen entered the room and stood by the front windows. The parlor ran the entire length of the house. The back windows opened onto the garden; through the translucent glass curtains she saw a pastoral vista of green leaves and bright flowers, highlighted by patches of sunlight and softened by cool gray shade. It was hard to believe that the garden was in the heart of a large city. Birds swung and sang in the branches, and Ruth's favorite roses were in full bloom. High walls, part brick and part wood, enclosed the entire back yard, which could only be entered through the house or by way of a narrow walled passage along the north side.

It was very quiet. When the satin draperies shifted slightly, Karen started and then let out a breath of laughter. The air-conditioning had just come on; there was a vent practically at her elbow, and the stream of cool air had moved the fabric.

She couldn't understand Ruth's oft-repeated concern about leaving her alone in the house. She was used to being alone. Jack was always going off to attend conferences and symposia-and "meetings." Their house was a prosaic, modern split-level in a subdivision of identical houses, and she had never been at all nervous. Was that why Ruth was worried-because this house was so old, with a history that went back a century and a half? The sort of house that might inspire an emotionally disturbed, unhappy person to start imagining the wrong things when a breath of wind shook the draperies or a board creaked in the night?

If that was Ruth's fear, it was groundless. Karen's eyes lovingly surveyed the room, from the gently moving draperies at the front to the sunlit garden beyond the back windows. The room had a feeling of peace. It was welcoming. The whole house had welcomed her back. It was like coming home.

She left the parlor and went along the hall to the kitchen. It was the only part of the house Ruth had changed after she inherited it from an elderly, childless relative. The appliances and cabinets were completely modern, but the brown tile of the floor and a corner cupboard containing Ruth's collection of teapots gave it a comfortable country look.

"Be sure you eat a good, healthy lunch," Ruth had ordered.

Karen made herself a cup of coffee-her fourth that morning-and sat down. She sat without moving for a long time, trying not to think or feel, letting the quiet sink into her bones. Every muscle in her body ached dully, after weeks of tension, of pretending a strength and calm she had not really possessed.

She knew what unspoken suggestion lay behind Ruth's remarks about needing someone to talk to. Ruth didn't mean Julie or even herself. She meant what she delicately termed "professional help"-a counselor or psychologist. Karen had tried-once. The woman was nice enough, but she was no help. She didn't answer questions, she asked them. "Why did you marry him?" "You say you let yourself become slovenly and unattractive-why did you do that?" "Did you resent the time you spent on his work?" "Why not?"

Why, why not? If Karen had known the answers, she wouldn't have had to go to a psychologist. Once was enough. She had canceled the second appointment.

Alone at last. She was half-dozing, head propped on her hand, when the telephone rang, and she started, spilling cold coffee across the surface of the table.

As she had expected, it was Julie. The latter's gravelly voice was unmistakable, as was her conversational style. Julie never said hi, or hello, or announced her own identity, but plunged right into the subject at hand with the air of a person who has no time to waste.

"Have they gone?" she demanded breathlessly.

"Yes, just a while ago. Why-"

"Are you coming to the shop?"

"I hadn't planned to. You said I could-"

"You have to learn the routine if you're going to take charge."

"I've been there every day for a month, and there's another week to go before you leave. Plenty of time. I really don't feel like it today. Besides, I promised Ruth-"

"Excuses, excuses. Don't think I'm going to let you sit there moping and feeling sorry for yourself, and not eating properly."

"It wouldn't hurt me to skip a few meals," Karen said.

"That's true."

"Thanks!"

"You said it first." Julie sighed gustily. "You used to have the most gorgeous figure. Of course you're tall. When a person is five foot nothing like me, every damn ounce shows. I've just discovered a great new diet. You go on that for a couple of weeks-"

"Don't you have any customers?" Karen asked pointedly.

Hints were wasted on Julie. "Only a few wandering tourists. My regulars don't come out when it's this hot. As I was saying, this is a super diet. I'll come for supper and tell you about it."

"I don't want to cook tonight, Julie."

"I'll bring a couple of Big Macs."

"If that's the new diet, I'm all for it."

"Silly girl. We'll start the diet tomorrow. Oops, here comes a live one. See you later."

Karen gave herself the childish satisfaction of slamming the telephone into its cradle. Once she had found Julie's blunt speech and malicious remarks entertaining. Once she had been much more self-confident than she was now.

She wondered what Julie wanted. She had accepted Julie's old-buddy routine with humble gratitude at first, but it had not taken her long to learn that Julie never did anything without expecting something in return.

Now Julie had ruined her first day alone. She had kept her upper lip stiff and her smile nailed in place because she had too much pride to break down in public and too much consideration for Ruth to subject her to a spectacle of blubbering defeat. She had bathed and clothed her disgusting body and brushed her nasty hair and tried to eat, and pretended that these wearisome and meaningless acts really mattered to her. She couldn't even sob and cry at night, for fear Ruth might hear. But she had looked forward to the moment when she could stop pretending, if only for a few hours, and wallow in self-pity. Get out of her bra and girdle, which were too tight-like every other stitch of clothing she had brought-put on a sloppy old housecoat, lie in bed, reading something banal and mindless, eat everything in the refrigerator that didn't require preparation, go to bed early.

And cry herself to sleep.

With a martyred sigh Karen climbed the stairs and entered her room-a guest room now, but once truly her own, when she had lived with Ruth. It looked much as it had then, except that now it was neat; the desk cleared of books and papers and chewed pencils, the floor and chairs uncluttered by clothing, shoes, and other debris. A big mahogany wardrobe served as a closet; houses of the early nineteenth century seldom had built-in closets. "Not that you need them," Ruth had once remarked in a rare moment of sarcasm. "You never hang up your clothes anyway."

A reluctant, affectionate smile curved Karen's lips as she remembered. What a carefree slob she had been in those days! She had come full circle-still a slob, but no longer carefree. She had intended to go back to school after she married, get her degree. It had seemed easy then; after all, Jack was on the faculty. But somehow there never was time. She had taken a course or two over the years, but there was always a manuscript that needed typing or a list of references to be checked; and of course Jack's work was so much more important than anything she could hope to accomplish.

She had learned to type. Jack had encouraged her in that-it was such a useful skill. It had certainly been useful to him, but she supposed she should be grateful that he had insisted, for now it was her only marketable skill. (What a hateful word-marketable-as if she were a piece of lifeless merchandise.) She had acted as Jack's research assistant for ten years, but without the formal title, or the salary. That was going to look great on a resume. Perhaps Jack would write a reference for her.

Karen reminded herself, not for the first time, that she was in a better position than many women whose marriages have failed. Her marriage had only lasted ten years, not twenty-five or thirty. It wasn't too late for her to acquire new skills.

But which ones? There was nothing she wanted to do. Absolutely nothing.

Sunlight sifted through the curtains, warming the soft blue print of the ruffled pillow shams and matching spread, awakening golden shimmers in the polished surfaces of the furniture. The tall pier glass reflected the four-poster bed, with its knotted-lace canopy.

It also reflected Karen. Depression deepened into despair as she studied the pale defeated face and slumped body of the woman in the mirror. What made matters worse-if they could be worse-was that for an instant she had a memory-vision of the girl who had once smiled back at her from that same mirror. A tall, slim girl with long legs and bright dark eyes, and a mane of black hair that shone with a life of its own.

There was no gray in her hair, but it no longer swung free around her shoulders. Lifeless as charcoal, it lay on her head like a wig that might have been plucked at random from a shelf in a department store. Lifeless like her hopes and her ambition and her self-esteem.

The eyes of the memory-girl in the mirror seemed to sparkle, as if in mockery. Don't laugh at me, shadow girl. You, of all people, ought to sympathize--

Karen fumbled with the fastening of her skirt. Her breath came out in an unpremeditated gasp as the zipper parted. She stepped out of the skirt and kicked it across the room, tore off her blouse, and wadded it into a ball. Shoes, pantyhose, and girdle followed. Her spirits improved slightly as her physical comfort increased, but she didn't look in the mirror again.

For once the trite complaint of having nothing to wear was the literal truth. She had packed one suitcase before she fled, throwing things into it without looking at them. She ought to call Jack and ask him to send her clothes. They were of no use to him; he would probably be glad to get the last reminders of her out of the house. But he wouldn't pack them himself, not Jack. He would ask Sandra to do it. Sandy, his super-efficient secretary, soon to be his second wife. Even if Karen could have forced herself to talk to Jack, she couldn't endure the idea of Sandy touching her personal possessions. Sandy would do the job neatly and competently, as she did everything; and she would smile with the intolerable pity of the young as she folded the size fourteens and the shabby, practical lingerie. Sandy was nineteen-the same age Karen had been when she married Jack.

My God, Karen thought despondently, I'm thinking like an old woman. I look like an old woman. When did this happen? How did it happen? I'm only twenty-seven… well, almost twenty-nine. Ten years ago I wore a size 6, played tennis, jogged, watched what I ate. Why did I let this happen?

She slammed the door of the wardrobe and crossed the room, giving the crumpled blouse a kick as she passed it. There must be some garment in the house she could wear without cutting off her circulation. No use looking in Ruth's wardrobe; her aunt was several inches shorter, petite, and small-boned.

Perhaps, she thought hopefully, Ruth had kept some of the clothes she and her sister had discarded or left behind-big shirts or big dresses-floats, or tents, or sacks, or whatever they called them then. Ruth laughed at Pat for being a pack rat, but she was almost as bad, she never threw anything away. Karen remembered once having helped Ruth carry some clothes to the attic to be stored. She had never seen an attic so neat, almost dust-free, smelling of cedar and mothballs.

It was worth looking, at any rate. She had nothing better to do. Slipping her feet into scuffed sandals and her arms into a faded cotton wrapper, she started for the stairs.

JULIE was late. Business must have improved, Karen thought, as she spun lettuce and chopped vegetables. It was almost six before she heard the doorbell chime and go on chiming, as Julie leaned on the button.

Karen opened the door and stepped out of the way. Julie came through like a bull charging into the ring. She headed straight for the kitchen, hurling words over her shoulder.

"What took you so long? It's hot as the hinges of hell out there; I thought I'd die. I had to go clear to M Street to get hamburgers-"

"Two blocks," Karen jeered, following Julie.

"The discomfort index is ninety-nine. I need a drink. Where's the gin? Where are the ice cubes?"

"Sit down, I'll fix it. Gin and tonic?"

"Right." Julie dropped her packages onto the table and collapsed into a chair. Her red hair, cut in the erratic style made popular by female rock stars, stuck out in stiff spikes, glued by perspiration and hair spray. She wore an off-the-shoulder blouse and a cotton skirt; rows of plastic beads formed a breastplate around her neck, and when she raised her hand to wipe her streaming brow, a matching row of bracelets jangled and clicked. The outfit would have looked ridiculous on most women, particularly the jewelry, which was of the type Karen categorized as "Woolworth's." But it was oddly becoming to Julie's sharp, vulpine features and stocky frame. "I look like a fat fox," she had once remarked, and although Karen had made polite protestations, there was a great deal of truth in the appraisal.

Karen offered a glass tinkling with ice cubes. Julie took it; then her eyes narrowed and she studied Karen as if seeing her for the first time.

"Well, well. I didn't know vintage chic had reached the far-off Midwest."

Karen smoothed the skirt of her dress selfconsciously. It was yellow batiste faded to a soft cream and sprinkled with orange flowers. The deep ruffle framing the neck was echoed by short ruffled sleeves.

"I found it in the attic. It must have belonged to Cousin Hattie. She was a stout woman, though much shorter than I am."

"I thought I detected an aura of eau de mothballs." Julie's eyes moved down the loose, unbelted folds of the dress to the hemline, which reached just below Karen's knees. "They wore dresses long in the early thirties. In the attic, did you say?"

Karen sat down with her own drink, plain tonic and ice. She had never been much of a drinker, and wasn't about to start now.

"Don't be subtle, Julie, you aren't good at it. I know you've been dying to get into Ruth's attic."

"I'd kill for the chance," Julie said coolly. "Acquiring stock is one of the biggest problems in the antique business these days. The good stuff has been bought up, and there aren't any bargains; every little old lady in the backwoods knows her junk is worth money."

"You've told me that a dozen times." Karen sipped her drink. "That's really why you hired me, isn't it? You had your eye on Ruth's attic."

"Hers and a few others."

"Such as Mrs. MacDougal's?"

" She's sort of an adopted grandmother, isn't she?"

"There is no relationship. She's Pat's mother, and he is only my uncle by marriage-"

"But he hasn't any children. I'm sure he thinks of you and your sister as his own."

Julie tried to look sentimental, without success. Her green eyes were as hard and calculating as a huckster's. Karen did not reply; without appearing to notice her distaste, Julie went on, "The old lady is a legend in this town. Her family was old Georgetown, creme de la creme, and she married big money. It was considered something of a mesalliance back then; Jackson MacDougal was one of those robber-baron types, a self-made millionaire with no culture and no class. I suppose his millions made up for his lack of table manners."

"Mrs. MacDougal wouldn't marry for money," Karen said stiffly. "She loved her husband very much."

"I'd have loved him too. Passionately. She was the most influential hostess in Washington for over forty years. And she knew how to spend old Jackson's money. That house is like a museum! I was in it once, on a charity tour. How old is she, a hundred?"

"In her nineties. Julie, you are not only a gossip, you are a ghoul. Do you sit around and pray for people to die so you can buy their antiques?"

"Well, sweetie, they can't take it with them, can they? I've heard rumors that she is going to sell the house and move to a nursing home, and dispose of most of her things. The important antiques will go to Christie's or Sotheby's, of course. I haven't the capital to deal with a collection like that, even if I had the entree. But her odds and ends would make my fortune! In her day she was one of the snappiest dressers in town. I'll bet she's got designer gowns, hats, accessories-"

"I thought you didn't deal in vintage clothes." Karen added waspishly, "We aren't that out of it in the dreary Midwest. I know old clothes are fashionable-collectible is the word, I believe. Not that I would wear things like that-"

"That's exactly what you are wearing," Julie pointed out. "It looks fairly decent on you. And it's comfortable, isn't it?"

"Yes, but-"

"But nothing. I don't specialize in vintage, but I'd market shit if people would buy it." She leaned across the table and fingered the ruffle. "This is in super condition. I could get… oh, say, seventy-five for it."

"Seventy-five dollars?"

"What do you think, yen? Maybe more. It's a good size, too. A lot of older clothes were made for those Scarlett O'Hara twenty-inch waists. How much more of this sort of thing does your aunt have?"

"Boxes and boxes and bags and bags."

Julie sprang to her feet, her eyes gleaming with avarice. "Show, show."

"I will, just to frustrate you. Ruth isn't going to sell her things."

"You could ask her."

Karen tried to change the subject. "Why don't we sit in the parlor like ladies? I'll fix you another drink-"

"I hate that room," Julie said.

"Why?" Karen asked curiously.

"It's too damned formal. I can't put my feet on the coffee table."

"Oh. Well, you certainly can't. I swore to return Ruth's property in pristine condition, as I received it."

"Don't worry, I've too much respect for antiques to treat them carelessly. Which is why I prefer to sit in the kitchen." Julie gulped down her drink. "Let's go to the attic."

It was not long before Karen was regretting her careless offer. Her hope, that friendship had been at least part of Julie's motive for cultivating her acquaintance, looked more and more forlorn when she saw the look of pure acquisitiveness on Julie's face.

One end of the long room was filled with furniture, much of it Pat's. He had had his own house before he moved in with Ruth after their marriage, and-Karen now realized-much of his furniture had originally belonged to his mother. She had literally to drag Julie away from a set of dining room chairs with needlepoint seats.

The linens, clothing, and rugs had been arranged along one wall, separated from the bulkier objects. Some of the clothing was packed in trunks and cartons; others hung from rods laid across the exposed beams. The latter were enclosed in garment bags, and a strong smell of mothballs wafted out as Julie began opening them.

"Let's take them downstairs," she said breathlessly. "It's too dark up here to see properly."

"Julie, I told you-"

"You said I could look. You know, linens and clothing ought to be aired and cleaned from time to time. You'd be doing your aunt a favor, really. If she ever does decide to sell them-"

"She'll never sell them. She doesn't need the money."

"But you do. I knew your dear husband when he was teaching at Georgetown; unless he's changed a lot, you'll have to fight him for every penny."

Karen's expression warned Julie that this time she had gone too far. "At least you can wear some of them, can't you? Surely Ruth wouldn't object to that."

"Of course not. She's the most generous-"

"Then let's take them downstairs and see what we- I mean, you-have. We'll play dress-up. Come on, it'll be fun."

Fun was not the word Karen would have chosen; Julie's open, unconcealed greediness cast a pall over the whole business. But she found the clothing unexpectedly fascinating. Thanks to Ruth's housewifely instincts and Cousin Hattie's lavish use of camphor, the dresses and coats were in excellent condition. Karen had done enough sewing to appreciate fine tailoring and beautiful fabrics, and only a woman totally devoid of imagination could fail to appreciate the charm of the ultra-feminine flowing frocks that dated back to Hattie's distant girlhood.

Karen wondered if fond nostalgia for a lost figure had inspired Hattie to preserve some of the dresses. Certainly they had been made for a willowy-slim woman which, to judge from the wardrobe of her middle age, Hattie had no longer been. Her favorites, packed in oiled paper and the inevitable camphor, ranged from a black-and-white calico day dress, every stitch sewn by hand, to a white batiste creation dripping with lace and eyelet insertion. Perhaps, Karen thought, they commemorated events in Hattie's life, happy times or sentimental moments. Parties and picnics, strolls by the river with a mustachioed gallant who looked into her eyes and told her how pretty she looked in white lace and ruffles…

Ruth's castoffs dated from the fifties and sixties, and Julie assured Karen they were also worth money. Money was the operative word for Julie, not sentiment. "It's a pity you can't wear your aunt's size," she said tactlessly, stroking a blue wool suit. "This is a Chanel copy, and a good one. Here, try this dress on. It looks like it belonged to the old lady after she got fat. Real silk chiffon."

"It makes me look like the old lady," Karen grumbled, as she slipped the dress on. "Where would I wear silk chiffon?"

"To work. Vintage adds a nice touch. Actually, it's a little big for you. How amazing."

Karen bit her lip. There was no sense in sparring with Julie; she was as subtle as an elephant, and her hide was as thick. "I could fix it," she said. "Take the skirt off, put in a few tucks and pleats…"

"I didn't know you could sew. That could be useful," Julie added thoughtfully.

Karen didn't ask her to elucidate. "I used to make all my own clothes. Academic salaries aren't that high, and Jack didn't want me to work, so…"

So she went to faculty dinners and receptions in homemade clothes while Jack ran up big bills at the best men's shops in the city. She didn't mind. Jack was such a good-looking man, and of course men couldn't make their own clothes. Her skill improved with practice, and she was naively proud of her work-until the night of the President's reception. It was the first formal gathering they had attended after Jack accepted the job in Dubuque. He was wearing the dinner jacket he had got at Brooks Brothers before they left Washington. She had slaved over her dress-raw silk, on sale for only eight dollars a yard… Jack said it looked homemade. Very nice, my dear, but why didn't you buy something a little more sophisticated?

Suddenly Karen realized she was shaking and dry-mouthed with anger. Strange. She hadn't been angry at the time, only embarrassed.

The memory came and went so quickly that Julie, never the most sensitive of women, was unaware of her distraction. Julie had opened a box filled with time-yellowed lingerie and was emitting little moans of delight. "Victorian and Edwardian. Look at the handmade lace, the embroidery…I could get a hundred and fifty for this petticoat!"

It was then that the idea was born, sparked by Julie's greed and founded in long-suppressed resentment. Why you? Karen thought. Why not me?

THE hamburgers Julie had brought were reduced to grease and sogginess by the time they sat down to supper. Karen nibbled on salad; Julie absently devoured the disgusting sandwich, too intent on her own thoughts to notice what she was eating. Karen knew she was planning a new assault, but had not yet determined the right strategy. They parted with mutually insincere expressions of affection. Karen locked up, turned off the lights, and dragged her weary body up to bed.

Of course it wouldn't have occurred to Julie to help clean up the mess, Karen thought crossly. Her bedroom was as littered as it had been during her college days. She couldn't even get into bed; it was piled high with "whites," as Julie called them-petticoats frothy with lace, nightgowns trimmed with crochet and tatting, camisoles and corset covers and funny, voluminous bloomers. Karen was tempted to push the whole lot onto the floor-they all needed washing anyway-but habit prevailed over exhaustion, and she began folding the garments and returning them to the cartons from which Julie had taken them. They were in poorer condition than the carefully packed dresses, but Julie had assured her the dust and dirt would wash out.

When she came upon the petticoat Julie had priced with such extravagance, she examined it curiously. It was beautifully made; eight inches of narrow tucks circled the lower part of the skirt, and the wide double flounces were trimmed with yards of knitted lace, fine as cobwebs. Karen held it against her and looked in the mirror. Crumpled and stained as it was, it conjured up images of romantic femininity, like the scent of ghostly, faded perfume; as she turned from side to side, the wide flounce swung out in a coquettish flare.

The lace had pulled away from the fabric in several places and there was one rent in its web. She could fix that. Julie had insisted the stains would bleach out. Dark brownish stains, like dried blood… Surely no one would pack a bloodstained garment, though. The stains must be those of rust.

A hundred and fifty dollars?

Karen was almost ready for bed when the telephone rang. She wondered irritably who could be calling so late, and then realized it wasn't quite ten o'clock. She was tempted not to answer. If the caller was Julie, primed with new excuses for plundering Ruth…

However, the caller was not Julie. Ruth's soft voice was blurred by background noises of laughter and conversation. She and Pat were spending the night with friends in New York before flying out the following morning.

"You weren't asleep, were you?" Ruth asked.

"Good heavens, no." Karen laughed lightly. "It's only ten o'clock."

"I forgot to ask you to please call the repairman to come look at the dryer. You'll find his number in the file."

"What's wrong with the dryer? It was working fine yesterday."

"Sometimes it makes a funny noise when it spins."

"I didn't hear any funny noise."

"It's intermittent," Ruth said.

Karen couldn't help smiling. There was nothing wrong with the dryer; that was only Ruth's excuse for calling. Now she could ask the questions she really wanted to ask. Did you eat something? Are you nervous alone? Are you sad, afraid, lonely?

"Okay," she said. "Don't worry, I'll look after things."

"And yourself."

"And myself."

"I hope you had a nice quiet day."

"Julie came for supper."

"Good."

"Not so good," Karen said perversely. "She's had her eye on your attic for a long time. She barely waited till you were out of the house before she pounced."

"Oh, Karen, I'm sure she came because she's so fond of you-"

"Ruth, darling, you needn't stroke my ego. Julie is as fond of me as she is of anyone, but she is primarily a merchant. She drooled over those chairs of Pat's."

"Well, she can't have them. Honestly," Ruth said indignantly. "Of all the nerve, making use of your friendship to pry around in my house-"

The sentence ended in a gasp and a burst of smothered laughter, and Ruth's voice was replaced by that of her husband. Karen moved the receiver a few inches from her ear.

"What did you say to infuriate my wife?" Pat demanded. "You know I can't allow her to be upset, she's a holy terror when she's angry."

Karen heard Ruth's voice in the background. "Give me that phone, Patrick MacDougal!"

"Only if you let me listen in."

Sounds of a scuffle ensued; Karen waited resignedly until the MacDougals had arrived at a consensus. Then Ruth said somewhat breathlessly, "Don't let that pushy female have a thing!"

"I will defend your property with my last drop of blood," Karen assured her. "You don't mind if I wear some of the clothes, do you?"

"Clothes? What clothes?"

"There are piles of them. Some of yours, some that must have belonged to Cousin Hattie, and even older things. Vintage clothing is in style, and I thought-"

"Oh, those old things. I was going to give them to Goodwill, but I never got around to it."

Pat interrupted with a comment Karen didn't catch; it was obviously a rude remark about Ruth's refusal to throw anything away. Suspecting that another prolonged bout of affectionate horseplay was about to take place, Karen said loudly, "Would you give them to me?"

That stopped the argument. After a blank silence, Ruth said, "Darling girl, you can have anything in the house. It will all be yours and Sara's one day-"

"But not for a helluva long time," said Pat.

"Stop it, Pat. Darling, you'd be doing me a favor if you cleaned that whole lot out. Take what you can use and call Salvation Army or someone to pick up the rest. And while they are at it, they can clean out Pat's study. Just tell them to take everything-"

"If one scrap of paper is missing," Pat shouted, "I'll put the grandfather of all curses on ye!"

"Are you sure you meant to throw them away?" Karen persisted.

"Absolutely. What do you have in mind?"

Karen explained. "I suppose it's presumptuous of me to think I could open my own shop," she ended. "But I've learned a lot from Julie, and with your things to get me started… Julie says acquiring stock is one of the major problems."

"Darling, I think it's a marvelous idea. Of course you can do it."

"Just don't set up shop in the parlor," Pat said. "It isn't zoned commercial."

"You know I wouldn't do that."

"You have no sense of humor, damn it. Go ahead, become a seller of rags and bones; judging from what I see in shop windows, some people will buy anything. Go see my mother. Maybe you can talk her into cleaning out her attic."

"I intend to call her, of course-but not for that."

"Why not for that? I've been trying to get her to move out of that mausoleum on R Street for years. She says she can't because none of the retirement homes will let her take that damned dog--Hey," Pat said brightly.

"Oh, no," Karen exclaimed. "Oh no, you don't, Pat."

"Why not? It's a great idea. A dog would be protection for you."

"Not that dog. It bites everybody who walks in the house."

"That's what a guard dog is supposed to do."

"It bit me last time I visited your mother."

"You can train it not to do that."

"How?"

"Club, cattle prod? God, that is really a terrific idea. I can't imagine why I didn't think of it before. I'll call the old girl right now. Come on, Ruth, you've been on the phone long enough, everything is fine, right? Good night, Karen."

The phone went dead, cutting off Ruth's halfhearted protest.

If she had had the telephone number of the friends with whom Pat and Ruth were staying, Karen would have called back. Ordinarily her uncle's antics filled her with a blend of amusement and outrage. Tonight she was not amused. If she knew Pat-and she did-he would be carrying out his threat this very moment, explaining his brilliant scheme to his mother in an enthusiastic bellow. Karen could have killed him. She didn't want a dog. She particularly didn't want Mrs. MacDougal's dog.

She got into bed and turned out the light, still fuming, but after a time she realized she was probably getting upset about nothing. Mrs. MacDougal would yell right back at Pat. She wouldn't give up her home, filled with a seventy-year accumulation of memories and bric-a-brac, for the sterile safety of a nursing home. Not Mrs. Mac. At ninety-three she had more zest for living in her little finger than some people of twenty-seven going on twenty-nine had in their whole bodies.

A board creaked in the hall. The wind was rising; a leafy branch brushed the windowpane with an eerie rustle. A white lingerie dress flung over the back of a chair shimmered dimly in the darkness, limp as a swooning Victorian maiden.

A hundred and fifty. There were at least six petticoats in the box, the same number of nightgowns. Say a hundred dollars average on the petticoats… A hundred times six, plus six times fifty-perhaps seventy-five…

Karen had fully intended to indulge in the long-awaited fit of weeping, but she was so busy adding and multiplying she fell asleep before she had shed a single tear.