The Night Travellers

13. The Parks

13 The Parks Mary, Jane, and Kathy must have strolled through a dozen of them, up paths that wound mysteriously or ran formally straight between beds of verbena and salvia, or skirted little lakes, or broke into steps to climb past rock gardens that soared and tumbled, rich in clinging plants. So did the days pass. Back in the east of the city, Ahmed and Estes Drover were latched into such an infernal quarrel that Mary let herself be persuaded into staying a night or two at the Ritz, where Kathy started trailing behind one of the waiters in the hallway (she even rode in his car while he slipped her petits-fours) and chatted in French with the maids. Ahmed's uncle was urging Ahmed to throw out the dancers and rent out the house himself, since the lessons Mary and Estes were offering were not well attended in the summer anyway and Estes was behind in mortgage payments. If the studio was out, the rents for the apartments could go up. Ahmed refused to stand up to his uncle because he was furious at Estes about something Mary did not care to hear about. She walked in the parks with Jane Harbison. After the gardens and the parks came the churches to admire, interspersed with the good city restaurants, each even better than the last. Kathy learned the names of strange things on menus, and Jane talked Mary into buying new dresses for herself and Kathy, too. "I would love to see you dance again," said Jane. "It isn't likely for a while. My partner, the one you met . . . is temporarily not working. We don't have a theater right now. Just the studio. But we will." 3 4 2 Reunion 343 "I'm sure you will," said Jane. She wondered aloud if she really wanted Rognons a la frangaise. On a late afternoon, returning to the Ritz from a restaurant on a nearby street, Mary looked up and saw Estes Drover. He was across the street from the hotel and was waving at her. "I have to see him," she said. But he wouldn't cross to her. She dodged traffic, for Estes had a letter in his hand, and she knew it was from Jeff. She came up at his side, only to have him wordlessly thrust it in her hand, to see him turn back and hasten into an anonymous crowd. ...