The Tight White Collar by Grace Metalious Page B

fought his way into her and Doris tasted blood where she had bitten through the shoulder of his dressing gown. When it was over, it was Theo who wept. Doris held his head cradled against her breasts and listened to him sob and even with the throb of pain that burned between her legs, she smiled up at the ceiling.
    The next morning there was an envelope with a hundred-dollar bill in it that had been slipped under her door sometime during the night and as August came to a humid end there was a neat stack of bills under the stockings in Doris’s dresser drawer. Theo came to her almost every night now, and every time he swore to her that it would be the last but Doris had learned well from his supply of hidden books. She made love to him with a perfection that was in itself almost a perversion and Theo could not keep away from her.
    By the time September came and the family returned, there was a new quality to Doris’s smile. It was self-confidence and power and it even showed in the way she stood and walked.
    â€œI must say,” said Mrs. Justine crossly, “that a summer in the city didn’t hurt you a bit, Doris. You’re blooming like a rose.”
    â€œThank you, ma’am,” said Doris demurely.
    â€œTheo my dear,” said Mrs. Justine. “You look exhausted. I know I should have insisted that you leave business to join us at the shore. Just look at you.”
    Doris filled Theo’s coffee cup and smiled when she saw the way his hand shook.
    One evening, toward the end of October, Theo Justine was alone in his library. Mrs. Justine had gone to a concert with the girls and George had not come home for the weekend. Doris waited until the rest of the household were in bed, then she went downstairs. She faced Theo across his desk and she did not mince words.
    â€œI’m pregnant,” she said.
    Theo put his head in his hands. “I knew it was going to happen,” he said.
    â€œWell, it’s too late to feel sad now,” said Doris briskly. “What are we going to do?”
    He raised his face. “We?” he asked stupidly.
    â€œWho do you think?” demanded Doris. “Surely you don’t expect me to cope with this thing alone?”
    â€œI can’t do anything,” protested Theo. “I have my family to think of.”
    â€œI’m not asking you to leave your silly family,” said Doris. “I’m just telling you that I have to be looked after and that someone is going to have to support the baby.”
    Theo might have been a fool in many ways but he was also a businessman. He knew when a deal was in the offing.
    â€œHow much?” he asked at last.
    â€œFifty thousand dollars,” said Doris bluntly.
    â€œYou’re crazy,” he said.
    â€œNo, I’m not. But you very possibly may be if I decide to open my mouth.”
    â€œNo one would ever believe you,” said Theo.
    â€œMaybe not everyone,” said Doris. “But enough people would to make things ugly for you. Your wife, for instance. And your children. And I might even decide to get a lawyer or go to the newspapers.”
    â€œWho’d believe a little Irish housemaid?”
    â€œWe can try to find out if you’d like.”
    Theo Justine sighed. “I’ll have it by the end of the week,” he said. “And as soon as I hand it over to you, I want you out of my house.”
    â€œThat’s what you say now,” said Doris with a sly little smile. “But there’ll be nights when you’ll be sorry I’m not here.”
    â€œGet out of here,” said Theo.
    He paid her in cash and Doris left the Justine house in the middle of the night. From the moment she left, she covered her tracks well. She opened an account in an obscure bank, keeping just enough money with her to see her through the months to come and she left New York for Philadelphia. She found a small apartment and took very good care of herself during