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"Yes. They have a prairie house. It's very striking. "
"So nouveau riche. "
"I suppose we were nouveau riche once, weren't we? Perhaps when your grandfather opened his store?"
"I find it tiresome when you talk like a socialist, Angus, even though I know you don't mean it. " She sipped her drink. "Mm, this is perfect. "
He took a deep breath. "Mother, would you do something for me?"
"Of course, dear, if I can. "
"You won't like it. "
"What is it?"
"I want you to invite Mrs. Vyalov to tea. "
His mother put her drink down slowly and carefully. "I see," she said.
"Aren't you going to ask why?"
"I know why," she said. "There is only one possible reason. I have met the ravishingly pretty daughter. "
"You're not to be cross. Vyalov is a leading man in this city, and very wealthy. And Olga is an angel. "
"Or, if not an angel, at least a Christian. "
"The Vyalovs are Russian Orthodox," Gus said. Might as well get all the bad news on the table, he thought. "They go to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul on Ideal Street. " The Dewars were Episcopalians.
"But not Jewish, thank God. " Mother had once feared that Gus might marry Rachel Abramov, whom he had liked enormously but never loved. "And I suppose we can be grateful that Olga is not a fortune hunter. "
"Indeed not. I should think Vyalov must be richer than Father. "
"I'm sure I have no idea. " Women such as Ursula were not supposed to know about money. Gus suspected they knew the net worth of their own and each others' husbands to the nearest dime, but they had to pretend ignorance.
She was not as cross as he had feared. "So you'll do it?" he said with trepidation.
"Of course. I'll send Mrs. Vyalov a note. "
Gus felt elated, but a new fear struck him. "Mind you, you're not to invite your snobbish friends to make Mrs. Vyalov feel inferior. "
"I have no snobbish friends. "
That remark was too ludicrous even to be acknowledged. "Ask Mrs. Fischer, she's amiable. And Aunt Gertrude. "
"Very well. "
"Thank you, Mother. " Gus felt great relief, as if he had survived an ordeal. "I know Olga is not the bride you may have dreamed of for me, but I feel sure you're going to become very fond of her in no time at all. "
"My dear son, you're almost twenty-six years old. Five years ago I might have tried to talk you out of marriage to the daughter of a shady businessman. But lately I have been wondering if I'm ever to have grandchildren. If at this point you announced that you wanted to marry a divorced Polish waitress I fear my first concern might be whether she were young enough to bear children. "
"Don't jump the gun-Olga hasn't agreed to marry me. I haven't even asked her. "
"How could she resist you?" She stood u
p and kissed him. "Now make me another drink. "
{V}
