Читать книгу The Complete Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald онлайн

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Again he picked up the telephone. He would call Lola; he felt vaguely that if she wanted to she could help him. The personal element had eluded him here; her opinion would be better than his own.

“I have to ask your pardon, boys,” he said unhappily; “I didn’t mean there to be all this fuss and delay. But it almost breaks my heart when I think of handing this shop over to anybody at all, and when I try to decide, it all gets dark in my mind.” He hesitated. “Have either one of you asked my daughter to marry him?”

“I did,” said Parrish, “three weeks ago.”

“So did I,” confessed Van Buren; “and I still have hopes that she’ll change her mind.”

Girard wondered if Jones had asked her also. Probably not; he never did anything he was expected to do. He even had the wrong name.

The phone in his hand rang shrilly and with an automatic gesture he picked up the receiver.

“Chicago calling, Mr. Girard.”

“I don’t want to talk to anybody.”

“It’s personal. It’s Mr. Jones.”

“All right,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Put him on.”