ii I'd already seen the courtyard, on the day...
ii
I'd already seen the courtyard, on the day I'd
used the front entrance to turn around, but on
that day I'd gotten little more than a glanceI'd
mostly been concentrating on getting myself and my
ashen-faced, perspiring daughter back to Big Pink
I'd noticed the tennis court and the cool blue
tiles, but had missed the koi pool entirelyThe
tennis court was swept and ready for action, its
paved surface two shades darker than the courtyard
tileOne turn of the chrome crank would bring the
net taut and readyA full basket of balls stood
on wire stilts, and made me think briefly of the
sketch Ilse had taken back to Providence with her:
The End of the Game
257
"One of these days, muchacho," Wireman said,
pointing at the court as we walked byHe had
slowed down so I could catch upI'll
take it easy on you - just volley-and-serve - but
I hunger to swing a racket
"Is volley-and-serve what you charge for
evaluating pictures?"
He smiled"I have a chanel classic handbag price, but that ain't it
iii
Wireman led me through the back door, across a dim
kitchen with large white service islands and an
enormous Westinghouse stove, then into the
whispering interior of the house, which shone with
dark woods - oak, walnut, teak, redwood, cypress
This was a Palacio, all right, old Florida style
We passed one book-lined room with an actual suit
of armor brooding in the cornerThe library
connected with a study where paintings - not
stodgy oil portraits but bright abstract things,
even a couple of op-art eye-poppers - hung on the
walls
258
Light showered down on us like white rain as we
walked the main hall (Wireman walked; I limped),
and I realized that, for all of the mansion's
grandeur, this part of it was no more than a
glorified dogtrot - the kind that separates
sections of older and much humbler Florida
dwellingsThat style, almost always constructed
of wood (sometimes scrapwood) rather than stone,
even has chanel purses bags a name: Florida Cracker
This dogtrot, filled with light courtesy of its
long glass ceiling, was lined with plantersAt
its far end, Wireman hung a rightI followed him
into an enormous cool parlorA row of windows
gave on a side courtyard filled with flowers - my
daughters could have named half of them, Pam all
of them, but I could only name the asters,
dayflowers, elderberry, and foxgloveOh, and the
rhododendronThere was plenty of thatBeyond the
tangle, on a blue-tiled walk that presumably
connected with the main courtyard, stalked a
sharp-eyed heronIt looked both thoughtful and
grim, but I never saw a one on the ground that
didn't look like a Puritan elder considering which
witch to burn next
259
In the center of the room was the woman Ilse and I
had seen on the day we tried exploring Duma Key
RoadThen she'd been in a wheelchair, her feet
clad in blue Hi-TopsToday she was standing with
her hands planted on the grips of a walker, louis vuitton miroir handbags and
her feet - large and very pale - were bareShe
was dressed in a high-waisted pair of beige slacks
and a dark brown silk blouse with amusingly wide
shoulders and full sleevesIt was an outfit that
made me think of Katharine Hepburn in those old
movies they sometimes show on Turner Classic
Movies: Adam's Rib, or Woman of the YearOnly I
couldn't remember Katharine Hepburn looking this
old, even when she was old
The room was dominated by a long, low table of the
sort my father had had in the cellar for his
electric trains, only this one was covered in some
light wood - it looked like bamboo - rather than
fake grassIt was crowded with model buildings
and china figurines: men, women, children,
barnyard animals, zoo animals, creatures of
mythical renownSpeaking of mythical creatures, I
saw a couple of fellows in blackface that wouldn't
have passed muster with the N-double-A-C-P
260
Elizabeth Eastlake looked at Wireman with an
expression of chanel flap bag sweet delight I would have enjoyed
drawingalthough I'm not sure anyone would have
taken it seriouslyI'm not sure we ever believe
the simplest emotions in our art, although we see
them all around us, every day"I woke up early and I've
been having such a wonderful time with my chinas!"
She had a deep southern-girl accent that turned
chinas into CHA-nahs"Look, the family's at
home!"
At one end of the table was a model mansionThe
kind with pillarsThink Tara in Gone With the
Wind and you'll be fineOr fahn, if you talk like
ElizabethAround it were ranged almost a dozen
figures, standing in a circleThe pose was
strangely ceremonial
"So they are," Wireman agreed
"And the schoolhouse! See how I've put the
children outside the schoolhouse! Do come see!"
"I will, but you know I don't like you to get up
without me," he said
"I didn't feel like calling on that old talkiewalkie
I'm really feeling very well
261
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