The Good Life

by Gordon Merrick

  “I know. Isn’t it silly? I mean, having to go to separate cabins. I have to keep reminding myself that Daddy doesn’t know.”

  “Thank God. I’ve been wondering if I could feel him out to see if he’s still so against the idea. I don’t mean any big revelations; just letting him know that I hoped you’d think of me before you took any big step with anybody else.”

  “I don’t see how he could object to that.”

  “You don’t understand. I sort of promised him I wouldn’t let it get beyond the ‘just good friends’ stage. I don’t know how I intended to do that, but as far as I know that’s the way he wants it and thinks it is. I’ll try to find out if he feels differently. Nothing can change the separate-cabins routine, but I’d like to feel less nervous about holding your hand in a chaste sort of way. Good night. See you in Cannes.”

  She threw her arms around him and folded her body in against his, drawing his mouth to hers for an impassioned kiss.

  When he awoke he felt the throb of the engines and the slight motion of the sea. He saw from his window that they were heading east along an unfamiliar coastline, more mountainous than around Saint-Tropez. He ordered coffee and learned from Henri that Bet was also awake and having breakfast. When he was ready to go above he put on his trunks and went to Bet’s cabin and tried the door. It was unlocked. He stuck his head in.

  She was sitting up in bed, coffee beside her, a book on her lap, looking about twelve years old. He grinned at her, their eyes twinkling at each other, and he shaped a kiss with his mouth. He resisted an almost irresistible urge to get into bed with her.

  “Another early bird,” he said. “I want to see Billy and get that over with. Shall I tell him we’ve just had a chance to talk about last night so I don’t have to pretend to be in the dark?”

  “I’ll remember. It’s getting so that I don’t dare say anything anymore for fear of spilling the beans.”

  “Just play beautiful and dumb. It suits you.”

  She made a face at him, and he left her, laughing as he went back along the passage to Billy’s cabin. He found another unlocked door and Billy also sitting up in bed.

  “We’re a pretty lively bunch this morning,” Perry commented. “I just looked in on Bet. It seems there’s been some trouble.”

  “I’m in a rage,” Billy said, looking unruffled. “Did Bet tell you what happened?”

  “She said you discovered that the prince had her for dinner alone.”

  “Exactly. A tête-à-tête, after the point I made about her not going out unchaperoned, even with you at night. You know how careful I’ve been about doing everything the way Arlene wanted it.”

  “Did he try any funny stuff?”

  “She insists that it was all quite proper, but naturally she’d be embarrassed to go into details with me. Did she say anything to you?”

  “I doubt if she’d tell me anything she wouldn’t tell you. I gathered that she hadn’t intended to tell you, but when you started asking questions she saw that you were upset and told you the truth. She said she had nothing to hide. That seems pretty obvious. It was all his idea.”

  “That isn’t the point. I don’t suppose she’d have stayed if he’d misbehaved, but he didn’t behave himself with me. He betrayed my trust. I don’t want an open breach with him. The only solution was to leave. I’m sorry to change our plans without consulting you.”

  “That doesn’t matter, Billy. We’re going to Cannes? We were due there in the next few days anyway. I’m sorry you’ve been upset.”

  “I still find it incredible that a man of Augustus’s background could forget his word of honor in order to make a play for an underage girl. Even if he were able to make her feel that it was all quite innocent, I’m sure he didn’t intend it to be. He wanted her alone to see how far he could get with her. It’s outrageous.

  “Thank heavens for you, my dearest. You’re the only one I can trust. I’ve watched you. You obviously get along beautifully together. It would be very easy for you to take advantage of her inexperience and make her fall for you helplessly. Most men wouldn’t be able to resist such an easy conquest even if they didn’t find her particularly desirable. Do you consider her unusually attractive?”

  Perry hesitated but shied away from the opening. Billy was obviously happy with the way things were and had come no closer to accepting him as a possible mate for Bet.

  “Well, I guess you can’t consider my reaction typical,” he said cautiously. “It depends on what you mean by unusually. Physically she’s certainly stunning, but I guess she’s still a bit young for me to think of her as a beautiful woman. At my age one is probably more impressed by mature women of the world. You know me. I get easily distracted by a beautiful boy like Trevor.”

  Billy laughed naughtily. “I wondered about him. He’d fall into your bed at the slightest touch.”

  “Or his own bed. He took me to see his house last night. Sylvain told me Bet was already here when I got in. That’s why I missed the excitement.”

  Billy beamed at him. “You delight me. Thank you for coming in. You’ve already put me in a much better humor. I’m really rather looking forward to a few days in Cannes. We’ll have time to catch up on everything that’s going on before our evening with Maxine. Has Trevor a body to match that extraordinary face?”

  “Young and delectable and admirably equipped. How long do you think we’ll stay in Cannes?”

  “Only as long as it amuses us. Simply getting away has already accomplished my purpose. As soon as Augustus sees that we’re gone, he’ll understand. I expect we’ll find some presentable young men to keep Bet amused in case she’s unhappy about the way this unfortunate episode has ended. I must say, she didn’t seem to mind in the least when she realized I was going to stick to my guns. What do you think?”

  “Just now when I saw her? She looked as if she was ready for the next adventure.”

  Billy chuckled. “I’m sure you’re ready for a beer. I’ll be up presently.”

  Perry left him, feeling inclined to congratulate himself. He hadn’t said anything that he would mind having quoted back to him or, more important, to Bet. What he’d said about her being too young was perfect; she could age overnight, and nobody could reproach him for telling tales.

  It took most of the afternoon to transport them to a new world — a world of enormous oceangoing yachts, sleek limousines, glittering luxury hotels, smartly dressed crowds in stylish streets, palatial villas set in exotic, exquisitely groomed gardens. This was what Perry had expected the Riviera to be. It was dazzling, but he sort of missed the rustic informality of Saint-Tropez.

  Billy got a telephone installed as soon as they were tied up and was busy with it while they were served drinks. He sounded as if he were greeting all the people he loved most in the world, mostly in French. He pushed the instrument aside eventually and returned his attention to his young companions, looking pleased with his social efforts.

  “It’s a dinner jacket for you, my boy. The white one,” he said to Perry. “And all of the gold you can get your hands on. We’re off on a mad round of pleasure. Today has done your tans to a turn, both of you. You’re magnificent. We’ll knock their eyes out. At least you two will. I’ll do my best to look as if I’m part of your party.”

  Their mad round of pleasure kept them busy. Billy’s friends turned out to be French for the most part, but they all spoke English. They were entertained in several of the palatial villas. Despite their abrupt departure, Billy arranged for the car to stay with them, and it was waiting on the quay when they arrived. They went to various places along the coast, to Grasse and Mougins and Saint-Paul and Antibes. It was all beautiful. People led more lavishly civilized lives than Perry had ever imagined.

  They ran into Elsa Maxwell the first evening, and bridge was mentioned. Thereafter it became a daily pastime. Encountering somebody he’d known elsewhere made Perry feel like a fixture on the international social scene.

  Everywhere they went, men clus
tered around Bet — not always young men, but beautifully dressed and polished. Back in the States, Perry would have thought of them as sort of sissified and foppish.

  Tennis was a major activity on this part of the coast, and when he was commandeered to make up a bridge foursome on the shaded deck after lunch, Bet was whisked away by her men several times for an afternoon of the more active sport. There were several impressive titles among her tennis partners, and Billy felt he was doing his duty by her.

  Perry was content to remain in the background and improve his bridge. His luck with the cards was extraordinary, and he shared some substantial winnings with Elsa.

  They had their evening with Maxine Elliott at her resplendent villa wedged between railroad tracks and rocks washed by the sea. Miss Elliott (Perry couldn’t imagine addressing the grand old lady less formally) took a particular fancy to Bet and spoke to her at some length about the life of grandeur and distinction that awaited her if she didn’t let herself be dragged down by the wrong man.

  “A sound English title is essential,” she announced in a way that permitted no argument.

  When they were having drinks before going somewhere for lunch, Billy told Bet and Perry that he’d just had a brief encounter with Jimmy Donahue. Perry remembered the wan little blond who had been with Billy the day they had met at the fair. A Woolworth.

  “I saw him wandering along the quay just before you came out. He’s on that big yacht along there with the Windsors. I’d heard they were around somewhere. He’s going to arrange for us to have drinks with them. I thought you two might be impressed.”

  “The duke and duchess?” Perry asked as casually as he could. He was almost too impressed to speak.

  “Yes. I’m glad I didn’t know yesterday,” Billy said. “I’m not sure Maxine receives anybody who speaks to them.”

  “Really, Daddy. You’re such a sly devil.” Bet laughed gleefully. “Wait till Mummy hears.”

  “Be sure to tell her.”

  “Heigh-ho. Another day, another duke,” Perry commented.

  It was a glamorous climax to their stay in Cannes. Being handed a drink by the former king of England was good enough for Perry. Chills raced up and down his spine. He remembered hearing the abdication speech without paying much attention to what it was all about, but this was the man who had made it. A little bit of history with his whiskey. He knew that he might have ignored the slight shy man if he hadn’t known who he was. The duchess dominated. Her attraction was curiously vibrant; he could feel the currents passing between them, whether or not she was aware that she was seducing him.

  He couldn’t imagine how Jimmy figured. He was a little prettier than he remembered, in a soft, baby-faced way, but he seemed quite lacking in personality. Jimmy and the duke? May be Billy knew.

  “I asked Jimmy if it would be some breach of something or other to ask them for a signed photograph,” Billy said. “I thought it might be fun for one or the other of you to have. He said the duke might not like it, but she’d be highly flattered. She’s had a rough time since the great drama. He says they’re very concerned about their future if there’s a war.”

  They returned to their home port the next day with a signed photograph of the duchess for each of them.

  As they moved into August, there was a noticeable change in the atmosphere. People stopped saying “If there’s a war…” and if they mentioned it at all, they said “when.” It was as if word had gone out from some central headquarters that it was coming.

  As the summer mellowed and the grapes grew fat on the vines, the gods seemed to smile on the privileged coast while an indefinable tension grew. Nothing of it was reflected in the papers. It was a singularly uneventful season. No major international incidents were reported, no unexpected troop movements. It was announced that the Maginot Line was impregnably manned and more than capable of protecting France from all comers. Plans for a general mobilization could be put into effect within two or three days.

  The weather was beautiful. The mistral, the vicious north wind that occurred in multiples of three — usually three on, three off — up to twelve days running, blew in for a steady six days while they stayed in port. It was said that no murderer was ever convicted if the crime was committed while the wind was blowing.

  Marlene was gone. The prince didn’t risk showing his face. Billy was angrier than ever. A gentleman would apologize. Perry wondered how you could apologize to a man whose daughter you seduced.

  After the mistral Billy received a letter from the headmistress of Bet’s school. Billy read it to them on deck one day. It reviewed the contingency plans the school had made in event of war. Students from neutral nations — presumably including Americans — could remain safely at school, protected by Switzerland’s strict neutrality. As their terms ended, there would be neutral shipping to get them home. Appropriate plans were being made for the others. The school didn’t anticipate any major upheaval. Under the circumstances, they didn’t feel liable for making any refunds of board and tuition already paid.

  “That’s lovely of them,” Bet said crossly. “We’re supposed to stay and get bombed so that they can sit on their bank account. Let me come to New York, Daddy.” She looked at Perry with an appeal for help.

  “What do you think, Billy?” he asked. “What if the States gets into it? Would even neutral ships be safe for her?”

  “I should think so. I’m trying to remember last time. It seems to me people went on traveling in a more or less normal way.”

  “But listen to Perry,” Bet persisted. “Everybody here expects Roosevelt to come in with the allies. I don’t want to get stuck here for the whole war. You can’t leave me.”

  “It’s difficult,” Billy said as if he hadn’t thought about the issue seriously before. “If it happened tomorrow, I’d be tempted to cast off and sail to Spain. Everybody seems to think Franco will be neutral, at least technically. We could take on plenty of provisions and go on by the southern route. There’s still time to miss the equinoctial storms. It’s out of the question, but the captain’s already told me he’d like to try it.”

  “Then let’s,” said Bet, her face glowing. “How exciting! I don’t want to leave you.” She said this to Billy, but her eyes darted to Perry. He refrained from putting a hand out to her; he didn’t want to encourage her in an idea that she must know her mother would never permit.

  “It’s fun to think about it, but I guess we’d have to be pretty desperate to really attempt it,” Perry said.

  Billy looked at him approvingly. “Desperate to the point of insanity. A month at sea on this little boat could be a nightmare. She’s not equipped for it. I might let the captain try it if it were the only way to get her away from the Nazis, but he’s a sailor.”

  Having established himself as the voice of reason, Perry picked up the point that Billy might take seriously. “All the same, Billy, you probably should think carefully about leaving her. Nobody knows what might happen. What’s left of her schooling doesn’t sound terribly important. Something could happen that would make it impossible for her to get home. I should think that would bother her mother.”

  Billy looked uncertainly at the letter he was holding. Perry took the opportunity to wink at Bet. Billy shook his head. “This woman sounds very sensible. She obviously doesn’t think there’s any need for alarm. If we let ourselves be frightened by everything we see in the papers these days, we’d never lead a normal life again.”

  “But honestly, Daddy, she wouldn’t care if the world came to an end, so long as she can keep that old school going.”

  “She must have advice from people who understand what a big responsibility school is. It would ruin her if anything regrettable happened to the girls through her bad judgment.”

  “I think the least you can do is write Arlene quickly,” Perry urged. “They might not realize in the States how bad it looks here. I didn’t till we came. We still have almost a month to change things. The more I think about it, the less I like
the idea of leaving her. If you agree, you should tell Arlene. On top of everything else, she’ll be with Monique. There’s nothing safely neutral about her. She’s French, isn’t she?”

  “Yes, but an underage female hardly counts as an enemy threat. I’m not worried about that.”

  “Okay. I just thought I’d mention it. You’d better write Arlene right away and warn her that she might regret not bringing her home.”

  “Very well. That would at least leave my conscience clear. I’m not really as worried as you are. I don’t think this war is going to burst out of the blue like the last time. They’ve been building up to it for years. There’ll have to be another big showdown over Poland before anybody makes a move. We’ll see it coming in plenty of time.”

  “But it’s about Poland that the British and French say they’ll fight,” Perry protested.

  “They’ve said it before about other places. They might actually do it but not before everybody’s had a chance to say it all over again.”

  “Hitler doesn’t fool around, Billy. When he’s ready, he takes what he wants.”

  “I agree up to a point, but the political leaders always leave themselves an out so they can claim they meant something quite different from what they said. I’ll go write and get it off my mind.” He stood and touched Bet’s hair as he paused in front of her. “You see? Your chaps want to keep you.”

  When he had left, she looked at Perry, and they laughed excitedly. “Oh, darling,” she exclaimed. “It might work. You were wonderful. You sounded so cool and detached. At first I wasn’t sure whose side you were on.”

  “That’s my family-friend act. Don’t get your hopes up, but it might have an effect. May be not soon enough for you to come with us, but with a little help from Hitler, we might get you back before Christmas. I’ll keep working on him. I think he’s already worried enough for it to wear off on your mother when he sees her. If we succeed, where will you stay?”

  “With Mummy, I expect. The Lombardy can probably give me a room adjoining her suite. We’ve talked about it. Daddy’s been in a rented place. Have you seen it?”