“Thank you.”
“What do you do, Mr. Regan?” Meredith asked.
“I work for the library.”
“Oh? Doing what?”
David shrugged. “I stamp books, I guess.”
“That sounds interesting,” Meredith said.
“Well, it’s all right for now.”
“I don’t suppose you’d be interested in selling shoes?”
“Well...” David said, and looked at Gillian.
“There’s nothing wrong with selling shoes, you know,” Meredith said.
“No, sir, I didn’t think there was.”
“Do you call everyone ‘sir’?”
“No, not everyone.”
“Then why are you calling me that?”
“You’re Gillian’s father.”
“Oh, I see. Where’s our waiter? I’d like some whiskey.”
It was one forty-five before she realized it. She made her apologies and left the men alone together. As she walked out of the restaurant, she wondered again why she was putting either of them through this ordeal. She shrugged and hailed a cab.
“Are you in love with my daughter?” Meredith asked David.
“Yes, sir. I am.”
“She’s a pretty girl.”
David nodded.
“Where’d you meet her?”
“At the Count’s... Igor’s. That’s where she’s studying.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Well, that’s where we met.”
“Where do you live, Mr. Regan?”
“On First Avenue. Near Houston Street.”
“Not with my daughter?”
“No, sir. I have my own apartment.”
“But you do sleep with Gillian, don’t you?”
“That’s my business, sir. And Gillian’s.”
“I wouldn’t want to see my daughter hurt, Mr. Regan.”
“Nor would I.”
“She’s a fine girl. With a lot of talent.”
“I know that.”
Meredith nodded and studied him. “How long have you known her?”
“Since last November.”
“Almost a year.”
“Almost.”
“And you love her, you say?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“You seem like a very cold person.”
David shrugged.
“Do you mind my frankness?” Meredith asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“Shall we have more coffee?”
“I’d like some.”
The waiter came, and they ordered more coffee. Meredith Burke took his black, without sugar.
“Do you plan on marrying her?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Why don’t you know?”
“I haven’t found the job I want yet.”
“What job do you want?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Or is there any sense to marrying a free-and-easy girl who’s already...?”
“Mr. Burke,” David said, “you’re talking about Gillian. I’d hit any other man in the world who talked about her that way.”
Meredith Burke nodded. “I wouldn’t try hitting me, son,” he said. “I would knock you flat on your behind.”
“That’s happened to me before, too,” David said. “But it wouldn’t stop me.”
“Maybe you’re not such a cold fish. Whose idea was this meeting?”
“Gillian’s.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“What are we supposed to discuss? You’re not asking for my permission to marry her, that’s for sure.”
“No, sir. Not yet.”
“Would it matter if I said you couldn’t marry her?”
“No, sir, it wouldn’t.”
“Then what’s the purpose of this meeting?” He shook his head. “Why’d you agree to it?”
“Because Gillian asked me.”
“Oh, I see. You do whatever she asks you to, huh?”
“I love her,” David said. “I don’t think you know how much.”
“Maybe I do,” Meredith answered. “Does it embarrass you to talk about love?”
“A little.”
“Don’t let it. Drink your coffee. How much money do you earn?”
“Sixty-five dollars a week.”
“That’s not very much.”
“No, sir, it isn’t.”
“I’m very fond of that girl,” Meredith said.
“So am I.”
“She’s my favorite. My other’s in California, you know. I doubt if she’s ever coming back. Don’t hurt that girl, Mr. Regan.”
“I won’t.”
“Women can be hurt. And women can be used. Don’t hurt her, and don’t use her. She’s my daughter, and I’m very fond of her.”
“Does it embarrass you to talk about love?” David asked.
Meredith smiled. “I do love her,” he said gently.
“I thought maybe you did,” David answered, returning the smile. “I had the suspicion.”
“I’ve thought of this day. When she’d bring around the man she’d chosen. I thought of it, Mr. Regan. Even when she was a little girl, and damn pretty she was then too. I thought of it.” He paused. “I guess I don’t like you. But I guess I wouldn’t have liked the mayor of Dublin if my daughter brought him to me and told me she loved him.”
“I guess I don’t like you, either,” David said. “But that has nothing to do with how I feel about Gillian.”
“You know, you may be a big damn bull artist, for all I know.”
“I’m not.”
“Well, you’d just better not be. I don’t like you now, but I’d like you even less if you were handing my daughter a line.”
“I can understand that.”
“Yes, and don’t go getting her pregnant. I hope you can understand that, too.”
“What are you getting angry about?” David asked suddenly.
“Because, to tell you the truth, I can’t get used to the idea of your sleeping with her, that’s what. I feel like busting you right in the mouth, Mr. Regan. That’s what. Goddamn it, it annoys the hell out of me.”
“Well, calm down. I don’t think Gillian would want us to argue.”
“What the hell does she want? That’s what I’d like to know. Why’d she bring us together?”
“Maybe she thinks it’s time I married her.”
“Well then, maybe it is.”
“She knows I’m going to marry her. I told her that the day we met.”
“That was almost a year ago, sonny. When are you going to get moving?”
David shook his head. “I’m not ready for marriage yet.”
“Then you’ll never be ready. If you’ve got to think it over, you’ll never be ready. And if you’ve got to think it over, I’m not even sure you love her.”
“I’m the one who’s got to be sure, Mr. Burke. Not you.”
“You seem a lot older than twenty-four.”
“I am a lot older.”
“So’s Gillian.” He looked at David a moment. “Maybe it’s a good match. Who the hell knows?”
“Does anyone ever know?”
“Don’t get smart with your platitudes. Are we finished with our lunch?”
“I guess so.”
“Don’t hurt her, Mr. Regan. If you do, I’ll come looking for you.”
That night, she asked David how the lunch had gone.
“Terrible,” he said. “He didn’t like me, and I didn’t like him. Why’d you have us meet, Gillian?”
“I don’t know,” she said, and perhaps she really didn’t.
Perhaps she only wanted to remind David that sooner or later the Hamelin townsfolk would have to pay the man with the pipe. Sooner or later, David would have to take her to the altar and swear the sacred vows, sooner or later he would have to do that if he really wanted to keep her. Or perhaps marriage hadn’t figured in the meeting at all. Perhaps all she’d wanted was to prove to her father, prove to Meredith Burke with his young blond bookkeeper, that she, Gillian Burke, was also capable of having an affair.