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“Very romantic,” he said, and then to me: “After dinner I want to show you my horses.”

The telephone rang inside, and Daisy shook her head decisively. The horses, needless to say, were not mentioned again. Tom and Miss Baker went into the library, while I followed Daisy around the house. Then we sat down side by side on a bench.

Daisy took her face in her hands.

“We don't know each other very well, Nick,” said Daisy. “Even if we are cousins. You didn't come to my wedding.”

“I wasn't back from the war.”

“That's true.” She hesitated. “Well, I've had a very bad time, and I'm pretty cynical about everything.”

I waited but she didn't say any more, and after a moment I decided to talk about her daughter.

“I suppose she talks, and – eats, and everything.”

“Oh, yes.” She looked at me absently. “Listen, Nick; let me tell you what I said when she was born. Would you like to hear?”

“Very much.”

“Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing for a girl in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

“You see I think everything's terrible anyhow,” she went on. “Everybody thinks so – the most advanced people. And I KNOW. I've been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.”

Inside, the crimson room bloomed with light. Tom and Miss Baker sat on the long couch and she read aloud to him from the newspaper.