The Ring (35 page)

But you do care about the baby. What about that?

But I can't do that ' it's dishonest.

Don't you think a lot of other girls do the same thing? Girls who have far less reason to do it than you do' Ariana, the baby won't be born for another seven months. I could say that it came early. No one would have to know. No one. Not even Paul.

She looked at the doctor, shocked by what he was suggesting. Don't you think that I could provide for the baby myself?

Of course not. When was the last time you saw a pregnant woman work? Who would hire you? And to do what?

She sat silent for a long moment and then nodded pensively. Maybe he was right She had just assumed she'd be able to get a job in a shop. But what a thing to do ' what a deception ' what a thing to do to Paul ' how could she lie to him like that? He was her friend and in a way she loved him. In fact, she cared for him a great deal.

How could I do such a thing, Doctor? It's wrong. She felt guilt and shame rise within her just at the thought.

You could do it for the sake of your unborn child. What did you do getting to Paris, getting here? Were you always so honest? Wouldn't you have lied or shot or killed to save your life? You must do the same for the baby, Ariana. To provide him with a family, a father, a decent life-style, meals in his belly, an education' . Ariana realized she was naive to think a few rings tucked away in a box could get her through this. Slowly she nodded her head.

I'll have to think it over.

Do that, but don't think for too long. If you wait much longer, it will be too late. This way, if the baby comes at seven months, I can easily explain it by your frail health, the trip from Europe, all of that.

You think of everything, don't you? She looked at him and realized he was giving her the push she needed to survive. He was teaching her the rules to a game she was getting very good at playing, and in her heart she knew he was right. But where would it end?

He was talking. If you do this, Ariana, your secret will always be safe with me.

Thank you, Doctor for my life and my baby's life.

He handed her the vitamins and touched her shoulder gently as she left. Make your decision quickly, Ariana.

She nodded quietly. Yes, I will.

Ariana, do you want to come swimming? Julia was pounding on her door at nine o'clock in the morning, and Ariana sleepily opened an eye.

So early? I'm not up yet.

Neither was Paul. And he's coming, too.

That's right, he verified as he sauntered through her doorway, and if I have to get up to go swimming with these little monsters, so do you.

Oh, I do, do I? She stretched lazily and smiled as he sat down next to her and kissed the loose blond hair falling over her face.

Yes, you do, otherwise, I shall drag you from your bed and pull you screaming down the beach.

How charming of you, Paul.

Yes, isn't it? They smiled at each other for a moment By the way, would you like to go to a party in Southampton tonight? My parents are taking die girls somewhere overnight.

How come?

It's the Fourth of July weekend, my dear. American Independence Day. Wait until you see-it should be quite an event.

And as it turned out, it was. They went swimming with the girls that morning and on a picnic with the whole family that afternoon. After which Sam and Ruth took the girls off on their excursion and Ariana disappeared upstairs to take her nap. But at seven o'cloek she was dressed to go out for the evening, and when she came down the stairs of the big summer home, Paul whistled and grinned.

Say, lady, nobody ever warned me you'd look like that with a suntan. She was wearing a turquoise silk dress that highlighted her fresh brown skin. He looked equally dashing in a white linen suit, white shirt, and a wide navy blue tie with tiny white dots, and together they set out for the evening in his new car.

In gala spirit he let Ariana drive it to the party, and once there he immediately brought her a gin fizz. Hesitant about her reactions to the liquor, she only took very small sips. But the party around her was already swinging. There were two bands playing, one in the house and one out on the lawn. Several yachts had pulled up for the occasion and were moored at the long dock where they were tended by a dozen boatsmen, and there was a ripe summer moon hanging overhead.

Would you like to dance, Ariana? He was smiling down at her gently, and smoothly she drifted into his arms. It was the first time they had danced together, and in the moonlight it was easy to pretend that it was Manfred, or her father, or anyone at all. Has anyone ever told you that you dance like an angel?

Not lately, I'm afraid. She laughed softly at the compliment and they danced on until the end of the set. They walked slowly to a railing where they could look down at the boats bobbing beneath them, and Paul looked at her with a seriousness Ariana had not yet seen.

I'm so happy when I'm with you, Ariana. I've never known anyone like you before. She wanted to tease him and ask about Joanie, but she knew that this wasn't the time.

Ariana he looked at her quietly I have something to tell you. , He reached over slowly, took both her hands in his, and then kissed them gently, one at a time. I love you. I don't know how else to tell you. I love you. I can't bear being without you. Being with you, I feel ' well ' so happy and strong ' like I can do anything, like everything I touch is some kind of a gift ' like it's all worth it ' and I never want to let that feeling go. If you go off on your own after the summer and I do the same thing, we'll lose that His eyes misted over as he said it. And, Ariana, I can't bear to let you go.

You won't have to. Her voice was a whisper. Paul ' IGe

And then, as though he had timed it, the first fire works exploded overhead. He reached into his pocket and took out a large emerald-cut diamond ring. Before she had realized what had happened, he had slipped it on her finger, and his mouth was pressing hard hers as his urgency and his passion readied toward her. She felt a longing and a stirring in her that she had thought never to feel again. She clung to him almost desperately for a moment, returning his kiss and fighting the longing in her own soul.

At last, after their lips parted, she told him that she was tired, and they drove back to his parents' house in East Hampton in a far more subdued state of mind.

She was still trying to wrestle with her conscience. How could she go on with this charade? And it wasn't: that she didn't love him. She did love him, in a warm, friendly kind of way, but it was wrong to take advantage of his affection, wrong to press on him a child that was not his. When at last they got out of the car in the driveway, Paul put a gentle arm around her and led her inside, And in the front hall he looked down at her sadly.

I know what you're thinking. You don't want it, not the ring, not what it stands for, not me ' not any of it It's all right, Ariana. I understand But there were tears in his voice as he pressed her to him. But, oh, God, I love you so much, please, please, just let me be alone with you here, just this one night Let me dream, let me imagine what it would have been like if this were our house, if we were married, if all the dreams had come true.

Paul. She pulled away from him gently, but when she did, she saw the handsome young face washed with tears. And then she couldn't bear it any longer; she pulled him close to her and reached her face up to his, offering him a warmth and a loving that she had never thought she would have to give anyone again. Moments later they reached her bedroom, and with a gentleness far beyond his years, Paul carefully peeled away the silk dress. They lay there for a long time in the moonlight, holding, caressing, dreaming, kissing, and saying nothing at all. And at last by the first light of morning, with the last passion spent, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Good morning, my darling. Ariana squinted in the bright sunlight as she saw him. He had set a breakfast tray down on the bed and was opening several drawers and putting the contents into a small suitcase he had laid out on the bed.

What are you doing? She sat up in bed and had to fight a wave of nausea. The coffee was pungent and it had been a long night.

I'm packing your suitcase. He smiled at her over his shoulder.

But where are we going? Your parents will be bade tonight They'll worry if they don't find us--

We'll be back by then.

Then why the suitcase, Paul? I don't understand. She felt totally disoriented as she sat there, still naked, as this man with the long legs in a navy blue silk bathrobe packed her bag. Paul, will you please stop and talk to me? There was a faint note of panic in her voice.

I will in a minute. And then, when he had finished, he turned, sat down quietly on the bed, and took her hand in his own, the one that still wore the enormous emerald-cut diamond ring. All right, now I'll tell you. We're going to Maryland this morning, Ariana.

Maryland? Why?

But this time he faced her squarely. It was as though overnight he had become a man. We're going to Maryland to get married, because I'm tired of playing games and acting like we're both fourteen years old. We're not, Ariana. I'm a man and you're a woman, and if something like last night can happen between us once, then it can happen again and again. I won't play games with you, I won't beg you. I love you, and I think you love me, too. And then his voice softened again slightly. Will you many me, Ariana? Darling, I love you with all my heart.

Oh, Paul. Tears flooded her eyes as she held out her arms to him. Was it possible that she could make him happy? If she did many him, out of gratitude for what he would be giving her child, she always be good to him. But all she could do was cry as he held her. It was such a huge decision, and she still wasn't sure what to do.

Will you stop crying and give me an answer? He kissed her neck gently, then her face, then her hair. Oh, Ariana, I love you ' how I love you' He kissed her again, and slowly this time she nodded, and then she faced him, as other faces came to mind ' ' Manfred ' her father ' briefly she even remembered Max Thomas, kissing her in her mother's room the night he escaped Berlin. What would they all think of her if she married this man? And then she realized that it didn't matter, was her decision, her life now. Not theirs. They were all gone. All of them. She was the only one left ' she ' and her baby and Paul. He was more real than the others ever could be now. She stretched a hand out to him now with a long, slow smile. She was reaching across a lifetime, reaching out to him with all her heart and soul, and as she did so, she vowed silently never to betray their love.

Well? He looked at her, trembling, afraid to take her hand, afraid to move. But she took both of his and brought them slowly to her mouth. And then one by one she kissed his fingers and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, there was a look of tenderness that reached to his very soul.

Yes. She smiled at him and pulled him closer, Yes, my darling. Yes! The answer is yes. And then, burying her head in his shoulder, she rejoiced. How I will love you, Paul Liebinan. , And then she took a step back to look at him. What a wonderful man you are.

My God, He grinned at her. I think you've gone crazy. But I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. You just stay crazy and let me take care of the rest.

And so he did. An hour later they were on the road to Maryland, with their suitcases in the backseat and Ariana's temporary identity cards in his pocket. Hours later the wife of a justice of the peace just outside Baltimore snapped their picture as her husband solemnly stared at Paul and nodded, murmuring firmly, You may kiss the bride.

Mother ' Dad ' Paul's voice almost trembled as he faced them, but gently he reached out for Ariana's hand. He took it, and he held it proudly, and then he smiled at his parents with a look that Said he was a man. Ariana and I eloped. He smiled down at tiny, nervous Ariana. I almost had to force her to do it, which is why I didn't want to waste my time waiting around to discuss it with you. So he looked at both his parents warmly, and although they were clearly stunned, they did not look displeased "may I present to you Mrs. Paul Liebman? He bowed gracefully toward her, and she dropped a curtsy at his feet. And then with one swift, graceful movement, she reached up and kissed him and then reached out quick arms to Ruth. The older woman took her and held her, holding her close for a long moment, remembering the terrifyingly sick girl she had rescued from the ship. Sam watched them for a moment, then he held his arms out to his son.

As planned, Ariana and Paul stayed in East Hampton until September, and then after Labor Day they went back to the city to begin their search for their own place. Paul began to work with his father at the office, and Ruth joined Ariana in the hunt for the right home. Just after they all celebrated Rosh Hashanah together, a pretty little town house became available in the upper Sixties, and after very little debate Paul decided that it had to be theirs. For the moment they were only renting, but the owner was interested in selling the place to them at the end of their lease. The young couple decided that the arrangement was perfect. It would give them a chance to decide if they really liked the house.

Now all they needed was more furniture, and with the girls back in school, Ruth had more time to help. She was a little less busy with her refugee organization, and she had been spending almost every day with Ariana, enough so to see that once again the girl wasn't feeling well.

Ariana, have you been back to see Kaplan? Ruth looked at her worriedly, and Ariana nodded, trying to decide about a swatch of fabric she'd ordered to match their new rug. Well, have you?

Yes. I went last Thursday. She avoided Ruth's eyes for a moment and then looked up at her mother-in-law with a small smile.

What did he say?

That the fainting and the problems with my stomach are going to go on for quite a while.

Does he think it's permanent? Ruth looked at her with greater concern now, but Ariana shook her head.