260 Elizabeth Eastlake looked at Wireman with...
260
Elizabeth Eastlake looked at Wireman with an
expression of 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 dior logo 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
Your new friend as wellOh, I know who you are
She smiled and crooked a finger at me to come
closer"Wireman tells me all about youYou're
the new chanel white ceramic watch fellow at Salmon Point
"He calls it Big Pink," Wireman saidIt was the cigarettey kind that
dissolves into coughingWireman had to hurry
forward and steady herMiss Eastlake didn't seem
to mind either the coughing or the steadying"I
like that!" she said when she was able"Oh hon, I
like that! Come and see my new schoolhouse
arrangement, Mr? I'm sure I've been told your
name but it escapes me, so much does now, you are
Mr?"
"Freemantle," I said
I joined them at her play-table; she offered her
handIt wasn't muscular, but was, like her feet,
of a good sizeShe buy chanel bag hadn't forgotten the fine art
of greeting, and gripped as well as she could
Also, she looked at me with cheerful interest as
we shookI liked her for her frank admission of
memory troublesAnd, Alzheimer's or not, I did
far more mental and verbal stuttering than I'd
seen so far from her
262
"It's good to know you, EdgarI have seen you
before, but I don't recall whenBig Pink! That's sassy!"
"I like the house, ma'amI'm very glad if it gives satisfaction
It's an artist's house, you knowAre you an
artist, Edgar?"
She was looking at me with her guileless blue eyesIt coco chanel designer was the easiest, the quickest,
and maybe it was the truth
"Of course you are, hon, I knew right awayI'll
need one of your picturesWireman will strike a
price with youHe's a lawyer as well as an
excellent cook, did he tell you that?"
"YesHer
conversation seemed to have developed too many
threads, and all at onceWireman, that dog,
looked as if he were struggling not to laugh
Which made me feel like laughing, of course
"I try to get pictures from all the artists who've
stayed in your Big PinkI have a Haring that was
painted there
That stopped any impulse to chanel tote lau