day, shepherding a whole flock of little ones.”
Mrs. Chambers nodded. “I think there are five children. It’s a shame, because Mr. Turner was killed in an automobile accident two years ago, and Mrs. Turner is at her wit’s end, trying to support the family and take care of the babies at the same time. Yes, Ronnie, the oldest boy, is about Dodie’s age, I think. He works at Lawton’s Pharmacy after school and in the evenings. That helps some, but it’s still rough going for Mrs. Turner, and this latest tragedy isn’t going to make it any easier.”
Lynn looked at her mother in surprise.
“How do you know all that about the Turners? Surely, Mrs. Turner isn’t the sort of person who would be in your bridge club or the Hospital Auxiliary or anything.”
“No,” Mrs. Chambers said, “I only know about her from your father, who has taken an interest in the family. He was the one who tried to save Mr. Turner after the accident, and later he helped Ronnie get the job at the pharmacy. He says Ronnie is a brilliant boy and a hard worker. Imagine a child that age working all afternoon and all evening to help support his family!”
Lynn said, “He must be a fine person.”
Her mother was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was very serious. “Lynn, you think your father was unfair about forbidding you to be one of the debutantes. Perhaps he was. I doubt whether Nancy Dunlapp’s father will forbid Nancy, or Mr. Taylor prevent Holly from joining. But your father is a little different from their fathers, dear, because of his profession. He doesn’t just go to business conferences all day and then come to the Hill at night. He sees people, all kinds of people, people like the Turners, and he gets to know them because he takes care of them. He has a chance to see how many good, fine, interesting people there are who don’t live exactly the way we do. Ronnie Turner for instance. He would never be invited to one of the debutante dances, but I imagine he is a lot finer person than many of the boys Dodie is beginning to date.”
She hesitated, trying to see what impression she was making on her daughter. Finally, when Lynn remained silent she continued, “What Daddy wants, dear, is for you not to separate yourself so entirely from everybody who isn’t exactly like you. You need to know and like all kinds of people, if you aren’t going to grow up into a—a—” She repressed a smile. “Dodie would love this—into a Mrs. Peterson.”
Lynn nodded. “I know; I can see that It’s just—oh, Mother, it will be so hard! I’ll be shut out of everything!”
“No,” her mother said softly. “It may seem that way at first, but you will find, I think, that when some doors are closed to you, others will open.... Lynn, when I was a young girl, living in Atlanta, I was one of the charmed so-called ‘social set.’ I was the most popular debutante of the season, and, if you knew Atlanta society, you would know what that meant. When I met your father, he was an intern at a local hospital. He had worked his way through medical school and was living on nothing but ham sandwiches. My parents could never see how fine and brilliant and ambitious he was. All they could see was that he was not a member of Atlanta ‘society.’ We eloped, and they never forgave us. They died, still feeling that way.”
Lynn’s eyes grew larger. “So that’s why Daddy feels so strongly about this?”
“Yes,” her mother said softly, “that’s one of the reasons.” Lynn lay awake a long time after she went to bed. It was almost midnight when the door to her room opened softly and she saw her father standing in the doorway. She could not see his face, but by the hall light shining behind him, she could see he was stooped a little, the way he always stood when he was weary.
He whispered, “Are you awake?”
Lynn raised her head. “Yes, Daddy. How is the Turner child?”
“She’s going to be all right.” Her father did not come into the room. He merely stood there, looking at her. He did not say things easily. Finally he said, “About our conversation tonight; I’ve been thinking it over. If it means so much to you, Lynn—well—”
“That’s all right,” Lynn assured him. She heard her voice saying it, as though it were someone else’s voice. “That’s all right Mother and I talked about it. I—I can see that you’re right.”
“No hard feelings?”
“No hard feelings.”
He looked so tired, standing there in the doorway, his shoulders sloped forward, his head bent a little.
Lynn relaxed on her pillow and said something she had not said for a long long time.
“I love you, Daddy.”
Dr. Chambers did not answer at once. When he did he said only, “And I you, Daughter.” Then he closed the door.
3
Lynn got up the next morning feeling as dedicated, strong and purposeful as a Christian martyr going forth to face the lions. However, by the time she had washed her face, brushed her teeth, dressed and put on lipstick, her purpose was beginning to falter a little. It was fairly easy to be noble at night, in a moment of sentiment, but in the bright light of day, the thought of the morning ahead of her was a little more difficult.
Dodie did not help matters.
“You’re crazy,” she said at breakfast, helping herself to a handful of toast. “You should never have let Daddy talk you into something like this. I’m darned if anybody’s going to talk me out of being a debutante next year. I’m going to be the debutantiest one of them all.”
“I’ll bet!” Lynn said irritably. “Just you wait Daddy will have something to say about it when the time comes.”
“He can say what he wants,” Dodie declared, “and it won’t make any difference. I’ll kick and scream and throw things at the walls. Daddy can’t hold out against something like that and he wouldn’t have held out against you either, if you had stood your ground. You just give in too easily.”
Lynn thought of her father the night before, standing in the doorway. He had been ready to give in then. He had said, “If it means so much to you, Lynn—” All she would have had to reply was, “It does, Daddy. It means everything.”
But she had not said it. Now she wished she had—but now it was too late. Her decision was made, and she was stuck with it.
Lynn swallowed her orange juice and blotted her mouth carefully with a napkin, so as not to blur her lipstick. “Ready to go?” she asked her sister.
Dodie glanced at her watch. “You go ahead. I told Janie I’d stop by her house and walk over with her.”
“Janie!” Lynn exclaimed with an impatience not natural to her. “Janie, Janie, Janie! You two are inseparable. What do you see in her, anyway? I mean, she may be a nice enough girl, but you and she can’t have much in common. You’re a straight A student and I hear she flunked both her language courses last year.”
“She won’t this year,” Dodie said. “I’m going to tutor her.”
Lynn shook her head in bewilderment. Dodie never ceased to surprise her. Everything she did seemed out of character. It was difficult to imagine sharp-tongued Dodie sitting down patiently to tutor somebody in Latin. Sometimes
