“Sometimes age is the best revenge," Cecily replied. "She can't possibly last as long as I can." She was speaking just loud enough that Mrs. Pryce might have heard her.
Jane wasn't paying much attention, because it had just occurred to her that her fictional person could have a long-lost identical twin. Her mind was racing along with the idea. What if she met a man who'd known the twin....
A tall man came in the classroom. He started toward the front of the room, saw Mrs. Pryce, stopped, and sat at the far end of the second row of chairs. He was lean, with painfully short hair and a stiff bearing. Jane recognized him as Bob Neufield.
He was followed by two middle-aged women. They were obviously sisters, both very feminine, blue-eyed and delicate-featured. One was painfully thin and rather ill looking, and the other prettily plump and quite tan, wearing a flowered dress with far too many ruffles for a woman her age. This sister, the fit one, was Ruth Rogers, the heroine of the swimming pool incident. She nodded at Jane's group and went to speak to Bob Neufield. She exchanged a few pleasant words about some cartons Bob had offered to take someplace. Then she came over to say hello to Jane and Shelley. Her sister, a frail, tired-looking woman, had inadvisedly taken a seat in the front row next to Mrs. Pryce.
“You must come over for tea," Ruth was saying to Cecily Grant after they'd been introduced. "The garden's at its best, and I'd love to show it off. We're just on the corner of Jane's block."
“Oh, I noticed your house when I got here," Cecily said. "Those are alstroemerias around the front porch, aren't they? I've never seen them actually growing—only in florists' shops."
“How nice of you to notice. I've had a terrible time starting them. This year is my third try. They're sunk in pots, of course. They can't winter here—" She broke off, turning to see what was going on in the front row.
Mrs. Pryce was talking loudly to Ruth's sister, Naomi. "Naomi Smith? You're the one with cancer, aren't you?”
Naomi, pale as eggshells, said, "What? No—I don ' t—"
“Just the same, would you mind sitting someplace else?”
Jane heard Shelley's hiss. "That's unforgivable!" Cecily Grant exclaimed under her breath.
Ruth Rogers, ruffles quivering with outrage, had practically leaped the row of chairs to get to her sister's side. "Mrs. Pryce, my sister has a rare blood disorder. Not that it's any of your business. It isn't contagious, and you owe her—all of us—an apology.”
Naomi Smith had picked up her purse and folders and had moved away. "Ruth, please—"
“I don't apologize," Mrs. Pryce pronounced. "Ever."
“Then it's a wonder you've lived as long as you have!" Ruth said. She went to sit where her sister had taken a place. "Do you want to leave?" she asked quietly.
Naomi Smith was shaken, but smiled weakly. "No, Ruth. We can't let that kind of person drive us away from something we want to do."
“Darlings! Are we all ready to be literary?" a voice trilled from the doorway. Desiree Loftus entered with her usual flourish. She was trailing scarves and an exotic scent that Jane thought smelled like a mixture of marijuana and ylang-ylang. "Ruth and Naomi—the biblical sisters!" she said, rushing over to greet them. "No, don't tell me again. I know that Ruth and Naomi weren't sisters, but you are. I've been meaning to tell you how delightful the naked ladies looked all over your lawn last fall.”
Jane thought Desiree had finally gone over the edge. She looked at Shelley with alarm.
Shelley giggled and whispered, "Naked ladies are those pink lilylike flowers that come up in the late summer. You know, the ones that don't have any foliage.”
Jane sighed. "I'm so relieved. I was picturing unclad virgins artfully strewn all over the corner lot and wondering how I could have missed it.”
Desiree, courageous as ever, called across the room to Mrs. Pryce, "My dear! Such a bad color for you—blue. You have a red aura, you know."
“Utter nonsense!" Mrs. Pryce exclaimed.
“No, not at all. I'm very tuned in to these things." "You're drunk! As usual!”
Desiree glared at her for a moment, then laughed shrilly. "Drunk on the joy of life, perhaps," she replied before turning her attention to the man at the edge of the room. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Desiree Loftus."
“How do you do. I'm Robert Neufield. My friends call me Bob."
“Oh, I do hope I'm going to be among them, Bob." She gave him a dazzling smile and turned to survey the room for other conversational victims. "Jane! Shelley! And who are you? No, don't tell me. You must be a relative of Jane's. It's the eyebrows. They tell everything! People don't pay nearly enough attention to eyebrows these days.”
As the introductions were going on, Jane heard Grady Wells's characteristic hearty laughter in the hallway. He came in the room with Missy, who was smiling—until her eye fell on Mrs. Pryce ensconced center front. Grady, chunky and florid-faced, took a seat by Bob Neufield, and Missy went to her desk and started sorting out her notes.
Jane slipped out of her seat and went to have a word with Missy. "I'm cheating. I made up a person," she said, furtively sliding an envelope onto thedesk. "Just for fun. Not for the class." She was surprised and embarrassed to realize her heart was pounding at her own audacity. She almost snatched the envelope back.
“What a great idea, Jane. I won't pass it out to the others if you don't want me to."
“Oh, no. Please don't. I'm terrified to even show it to you.”
They were interrupted by Mrs. Pryce bellowing at Grady. "I'm surprised you'd have the nerve to show up here.”
Grady smiled at her as if she were a grand joke. "I don't know why that would be."
“After the way you've neglected your civic duties."
“Mrs. Pryce," he said patiently, "I'm not here as mayor. Bring your concerns to the council meeting if you must."
“Oh, yes! To your paid toadies!"
“Mrs. Pryce, the council isn't paid anything. And I only get a hundred dollars a year. That's about a nickel an hour for my time." His patience was obviously wearing thin, but he still looked cheerful. Grady always looked cheerful.
“That may be your salary, but I have good reason to think you make a good deal more.”
All the amusement had faded from Grady's face. "What are you talking about?"
“Let's not mince words. Embezzlement. That's what I'm talking about."
“Embezzlement?" Grady's always pink face had grown alarmingly red.
“Yes. We all pay a hefty amount in taxes, but there never seems to be any money for necessary pro‑ grams. I believe that large sums of money are missing."
“Mrs. Pryce, I invite you to look over the city's financial statement any time you want. In fact, I insist on it. I'll have our treasurer explain it all to you. But I warn you—if there's any more of this loose talk, I'll have to discuss you with the city's attorney. This is slander and could damage a number of reputations. I won't have it.”
Missy cleared her throat loudly. "I believe we had better begin our class.”
Jane scuttled back to her place between her mother and Shelley and sat down, shaking her head in disgust.
“Do you think she's gone gaga?" Shelley whispered.
“God! Can you imagine saying a thing like that to Grady?”
Missy glanced at them, silently ordering them to be quiet. "Now, we're all here to learn to write an autobiography—"
“Some of us already know how," Mrs. Pryce said.
Missy ignored her. "I'll be giving you a lot of instructions—rules, if you wish—but I want to make a disclaimer right now. Rules are, as trite as it may be, made to be broken. But the secret to any good writing is in breaking the rules selectively. I believe—"