The Prodigal Daughter (55 page)

The laughter
continued for several seconds before Florentyna was able to start again. “More
than thirty years ago I was educated at this great university and it has set
the standard for everything I have tried to achieve in my life. The pursuit of
excellence has always been to Harvard of paramount importance and it is a
relief to find in this changing world that the standards attained today by your
graduates are even higher than they were in my generation. There is a tendency
among the old to say that the youth of today do not compare with their
forefathers. I am reminded of the words carved on the side of the tombs of the
Pharaohs. Translated, it reads: ‘The young are lazy and preoccupied with
themselves and will surely cause the downfall of the world as we know it.”‘

The graduates
cheered while the parents laughed. “Winston Churchill once said: ‘When I was
sixteen, I thought my parents knew nothing. When I was twenty-one, I was
shocked to discover how much they had picked up in the last five years. “
‘ The
parents applauded and the students smiled.

“America is
often looked upon as a great monolithic land mass, with a vast centralized
economy. It is neither of these things. It is two hundred and forty million
people who make up something more diverse, more complicated, more exciting than
any other nation on earth and I envy all of you wlio wish to play a role in the
future of our country and feel sorry foj- those who do not. Harvard University
is famous for its tradition of service in medicine, teaching, the law, religion
and the arts.
it
must be thought a modem tragedy that
more young people do not consider politics an honorable and worthwhile
profession. We must change the atmosphere in the corridors of power so that the
very brightest of our youth do not dismiss.
virtually
without consideration, a career in public life.

“None
ot
us has ever doubted for a moment the integnty of
Washington, Adams, Jefferson or Lincoln. Why shouldn’t we today produ,~e
another generation of statesmen who will bring back to our vocabulary the words
‘duty,’ ‘pride’ and ‘honor’ without such a suggestion being greeted with
sarcasm or scorn’?

“This great
university produced John Kennedy, who once said when receiving an honorary
degree from Yale, ‘
And
now I have the best of both
worlds, a Harvard education and a Yale degree. “‘

When the laughter
had died down, Florentyna continued: “I, Mr. President, have the best of every
world, a Radcliffe education and a Radcliffe degree,” Seventeen thousand people
rose to their feet and it was a considerable time before Florentyna could
continue. She smiled as she thought how proud Richard would be because he had
suggested that line in the bathtub and she had not been sure that it would
work.

“As young
Americans, take pride in your country’s past achievements, but strivc to make
them nothing more than history. Defy old myths, break new barriers,
challenge
the future, so that at the end of this century,
people will say of us that our achievements rank alongside those of the Greeks,
the Romans and the British in advancing freedom and a just society for all
people on this planet. Let no barriers be unassailable and no aims too high and
when the crazy whirligig of time is over, let it be possible tor you to say as
Franklin D. Roosevelt did, ‘There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To
some generations much is given, of other generations much is expected, but this
generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny. “‘

Once again,
everyone on the lawn broke into spontaneous applause. When it subsided,
Florentyna lowered her voice almost to a whisper. “My fellow alumni, I say to
you, I am bored by cynics, I despise belittlers, I loathe those who think there
is something sophisticated and erudite in running our nation down, because I am
convinced that this generation of our youth, who will take the United States
into the twenty-first century, has another rendezvous with destiny. I pray that
many of them are present today.”

When Florentyna
sat down she was the only person seated. Journalists were to remark the next
day that even the cameramen whistled. Florentyna looked down, aware that she
had made a favor ible impression on the crowd, but she still needed Richard for
final confirmation. Mark Twain’s words came back to her: “Sorrow can take care
of itself, but to get the true benefit of joy, you it tust share it.” As
Florentyna was led off the stage, the students cheered and waved, but her eyes
searched only for Richard. Making her way out of the Tercentenary Yard, she was
stopped by dozens of people, but her thoughts remained elsewhere.

Florentyna heard
the words “Who will tell her?” while she was trying to listen to a student who
was going to Zimbabwe to teach English. She swung around to stare at the
troubled face of Matina Homer, the Radcliffe president.

“It’s Richard,
isn’t it?” said Florentyna quickly.

“Yes, I’m afraid
so. He’s been involved in a car accident.”

“Where is he?”

“In
Newton-Wellesley Hospital, about ten miles away.
You must leave
immediately.”

“How bad it it?”

“Not good, I’m
afraid.”

A police escort
rushed Florentyna down the Massachusetts Turnpike to the Route 16 exit as she
prayed, Let him live. Let him live.

When the police
car arrived outside the main entrance of the hospital she ran up the steps. A
doctor was waiting for her.

“Senator Kane,
I’m Nicholas Eyre, chief of surgery. We need your permission to operate.”

“Why? Why do you
need to operate?”

“Your husband
has severe head injuries. And it’s our only chance to save him.”

“Can I see him?”

“Yes,
ofcourse.”
He led herquickly to the emergency room, where Richard lay unconscious beneath
a plastic sheet, a tube in his mouth, his skull encased in stained white gauze.
Florentyna collapsed onto the bedside chair and stared down iit the floor,
unable to bear the sight of her injured husband.

Would the brain
damage be pernianent or could he recover?

“What happened?”
she asked the surgeon.

“The police
aren’t certain, but a witness said your husband veered across the divider on
the turnpike for no apparent reason and collided with a tractor-trailer. There
seems to have been no mechanical fault with the car he was driving, so they can
only conclude he fell asleep at the wheel.”

Florentyria
steeled herself to raise her eyes and look again at the man she loved.

“Can we operate,
Mrs. Kane?”

“Yes,” said a
faint voice that only an hour before had brought thousands of people to their
feet. She was led into a corridor and sat alone. A nurse came up: they needed a
signature; she scribbled her name. How many times had she done that today?

She sat alone in
the corridor, a strange figure in an elegant dress, hunched up on the little
wooden chair. She remembered how she had met Richard in Bloomingdale’s when she
thought he had faflen for Maisie; how they first made love only moments after
their first row and how they had run away and with the help of Bella and Claude
she had become Mrs. Kane; the births of William and Annabel, that twenty-dollar
bill that fixed the meeting in San Francisco with Gianni; returning to New York
as partners to run the Baron and then Lester’s; how he had then made Washington
possible; how she had smiled when he played the cello for her; how he laughed
when she beat him at golf. She had always wanted to achieve so much for him and
he had always been selfless in his love for her.

He must live so
that she could devote herself to making him well again.

In times of
helplessness one suddenly believes in God. Florentyna fell on her knees and
begged for her husband’s life.

Hours passed
before Dr. Eyre returned to her side. Florentyna looked up hopefully.

“Your husband died
a few minutes ago, Mrs. Kane” was
all the
surgeon
said.

“Did he say
anything to you before he died?” Florentyna asked.

The chiet of
surgery looked embarrassed.

“Whatever it was
my husband said, I should like to know, Dr. Eyre. “

The surgeon
hesitated. “All he said, Mrs. Kane, was ‘Tell Jessie I love her.”‘

Florentyna bowed
her head. The widow knelt alone and prayed.

It was the
second funeral of a Kane in Trinity Church in six mOnths.

William stood
between two Mrs. Kanes dressed in black as the bishop reminded them that in
death there is life.

Florentyna sat
alone in her room that night and cared no longer for this life. In the hall Jay
a package marked: “Fragile, Sotheby Parke Bernet, contents one cello,
Stradivarius.”

William
accompanied his mother back to Washington on Monday. The news magazines at the
stand at Logan Airport were ablaze with cover headlines from Florentyna’s
speech. She didn’t even notice.

William remained
at the Baron with his mother for three days until she sent him back to his
wife. For hours Florentyna would sit alone in a room full of Richard’s past.
His cello, his photographs, even the last unfinished game of
backgammon.

Florentyna began
to arrive at the Senate in midmorning. Janet couldn’t get her to answer her
mail except for the hundreds of letters and telegrams expressing sorrow at
Richard’s death. She failed to show up at committee meetings and forgot
appointments with people who had traveled great distances to see her. On one
occasion she missed presiding over the Senatea chore senators took in turn when
the Vice President was absent-for a defense debate. Even her most ardent
admirers doubted if she would ever fully regain her impetuous enthusiasm for
politics.

As the wt-eks
turned into months, Florentyna began to lose her best staffers, who feared she
no longer had the ambition for herself that they had once had for her.
Complaints from her constituents, low-key for the first few months after
Richard’s’death, now turned to an angry rumble, but still Florentyna went
aimlessly about her daily routine. Senator Brooks quite openly suggested an
early retirement for the good of the party, and
,continued
to voice this opinion in the smoke-filled rooms of Illinois’s political
headquarters. Florentyna’s name began to disappear from the White House guest
lists and she was no longer at the _-Ocktail parties held by Mrs. John Sherman
Cooper, Mrs. Lloyd Kreegar or Mrs. George Renchard.

Both Wil~iam and
Edward traveled regularly to Washington in an effort to stop her from thinking
about Richard and bring her back to taking an interest in her work. Neither of
them succeeded.

Florentyna spent
a quiet Christmas at the Red House in Boston. William and Joanna found it
difficult to adapt to the change that I kad taken place in so short a time. The
once elegant and incisive lady had become listless and dull. It was an unhappy
Christmas for everyone except that the ten-month-old Richard was learning to
pull himself up. When Florentyna returned to Washington in the New Year,
matters did not improve, and tven Edward began to despair.

Janet Brown
waited nearly a year before she told Florentyna that she had been offered the
job of administrative assistant in Senator Han’s office.

“You must accept
the offer, my dear. There is nothing left for you here.

I shall serve
out my term and then retire.”

Janet too
pleaded with Florentyna, but it had no effect.

Florentyna
glanced through her mail, barely noticing a letter fi-om Bella chiding her
about not turning up for their daughter’s wedding, and signed some more letters
that she hadn’t written or even bothered to read. When she checked her watch,
it was six o’clock. An invitation from Senator Pryor to a small reception lay
on the desk in front of her. Florentyna dropped the smartly embossed card into
the wastepaper basket, picked up a copy of the Washington Post and decided to
walk home alone. She had ne%
,er
once felt alone when
Richard had been alive.

She came out of
the Russell Building, crossed Delaware Avenue and cut over the grass of Union
Station Plaza. Soon Washington would be a blaze of colors. The fountain
splashed as she came to the paved walkway. She reached the steps leading down
to New Jersey Avenue and decided to rest for a moment on the park bench.

There was
nothing to rush home for. She began to remember the look on Richard’s face as
Jake Thomas welcomed him as chairman of Lester’s. He did look a fool standing
there with a large red London bus under his arm.

Remini,
;cing
about such incidents in their life together brought
her as near to happiness now as she ever expected to achieve.

“You’re on my
bench.”

Florentyria
blinked and looked to her side. A man wearing dirty jeans and an open brown
shirt with holes in the sleeves sat on the other end
ot
the bench staring at her suspiciously. He had not shaved for several days,
which made it hard for Florentyna to determine his age.