Read The Samsons: Two Novels; (Modern Library) for Free Online Page B

reproach or approval, but Betty was attending to the food. “I’m getting married.”
    Even the boys stopped eating and turned to him.
    “To whom?” Betty asked, leaning forward, her spoon motionless in her hand.
    It was Bert’s turn. “Carmen Villa? The girl in the pictures you sent us from Washington?”
    Tony nodded.
    “This is wonderful!” Bert was enthusiastic. “Isn’t she the daughter of the Villas? Do they already know and have they accepted you?”
    “Carmen has. As for her parents, I don’t think there will be any trouble.”
    “When will you get married?” Betty asked.
    “In a year—maybe even less.”
    Bert stirred in his chair. “There has to be more time. Preparations. After all, the Villas … you know what I mean.”
    “That’s why I’m telling you now.”
    “This is foolish,” Betty said, aghast and overjoyed at the same time. “Tony, what can we do?”
    “You don’t have to do anything. Don’t worry.”
    “How easy it is for you to say that!” Betty said. “You know we have to think of the sponsors.”
    Tony had never given the embellishments of the wedding serious thought, and to his sister he said simply, “You’ll be one, Manang.”
    “Me? Me?” Betty objected shrilly. “Let’s get the governor. After all, he is from our town and he knows you. We have to show we know someone important, have influential acquaintances. I’m not saying that we can ever equal the Villas, but we can put on an appearance.”
    Tony laughed hollowly. “There is no sense in that,” he said. “Carmen knows everything about me. My income. I’ve told her everything.”
    “So what if she knows.” Betty was insistent. “There are her parents, her relatives—people who don’t know. It’s for them that we will put on an appearance.”
    “There will be no people. Just us—and the members of her family. It’s already settled. It’s going to be very quiet. Besides, I don’t want us to spend. You know I have no money.”
    “But we can get the investment back. Oh yes, Tony, we can,” Betty said. “Just don’t forget us when you are there. The Villas … I haven’t really stopped hoping. Maybe, someday, I’ll go back to college and get a master’s degree or something, and then I’ll be able to get a better job. But so much will have to depend on you.”
    “Even I, someday, may come to you for assistance,” Bert said. “But this does not have to be said. I will—particularly when I’m through with law. It’s so hard to get a position these days, even when you are a lawyer. You know what I mean.”
    “But how can I be of help?” Tony asked. “I am not even sure if I’ll be able to live on my salary. Certainly I’m not going to live on Carmen’s money. Oh no.”
    “Throw
delicadeza
b out of the window,” Betty said. “Maybe I will yet be able to leave that public school. Ten years—can you imagine that? Ten years and not a single raise.”
    Tony ate in silence.
    “Well, you can do something,” Betty insisted.
    “I don’t know,” Tony said sullenly. “It all seems confusing now.”
    “The Villas are rich, aren’t they? I’m not saying that you should be grasping, but look at how we have suffered. Don’t you remember any more?”
    “I don’t want to sound ungrateful,” Tony said, his appetite gone.
    “It’s not your fault that she is rich,” Betty was determined. “After all, not every girl can have a prize like you. Do you remember how those girls back home vied for your attention? You can write to Emy and she’ll tell you about all those who are there waiting. She knows, and here you are worrying about what people, particularly the Villas, would say. They wouldn’t ask questions, my dear.”
    Emy—and the caverns of the past were lighted up again; memories, sharp and shining as if they were minted only yesterday, lingered in his mind, and briefly he wondered where his cousin was, what she was doing, and if she still cared. But the wondering was