An Air That Kills Read Online Free PDF Page A

finds out.”
    â€œMaybe he will. At first.”
    â€œWhat do you mean, at first?”
    â€œWhen he starts thinking about it he won’t be so thrilled.”
    â€œI don’t get the point.”
    â€œHarry and I haven’t taken any chances along that line for over a year,” she said slowly. “Harry didn’t want me to have a baby, he was afraid complications might develop because I’m nearly thirty-five.”
    â€œNo method is foolproof. You could have had an accident.”
    â€œIt wasn’t an accident. It was quite deliberate, on my part anyway. I wanted a baby. I’m getting old, pretty soon it would have been too late. I talked to Harry, I told him how I felt, many times. But he was terrified that something might happen to me. That’s what he said, anyway. Maybe his real reasons were deeper, subtler, I don’t know. Maybe he was jealous at the idea of my dividing my affections. But what­ever Harry’s reasons were, at least now you know mine. I want this child. I love him already.”
    â€œHim?”
    â€œI have a feeling it’s a boy. I call him Ron.”
    â€œFor the love of God,” Turee said. “Ron. Ron Galloway?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œYou’re sure?”
    â€œNow that’s rather insulting, isn’t it? It sounds as though I’ve been promiscuous.”
    â€œI only meant, in a thing like this you’ve got to be ab­solutely positive.”
    â€œI am.”
    â€œFor the love of God,” Turee repeated. “What a mess this is going to be. Think of Harry. And Esther.”
    â€œI can’t afford to. I have my child to think about. Esther never loved Ron anyway. She married him for his money, he told me so. As for Harry, I feel sorry for him, of course. He’s a good man, I hate to hurt him, but . . .”
    â€œBut you will?”
    â€œI will. I must. I have my child to consider.”
    â€œThat’s just it, Thelma. Think a minute. For the child’s sake, wouldn’t it be better to keep this whole business a secret? Harry would make a wonderful father, and the child could be brought up without any fuss or scandal.”
    â€œThat’s impossible. I don’t want to keep this whole busi­ness, as you call it, a secret.”
    â€œI strongly urge you to think about it.”
    â€œI’ve thought of nothing else for three weeks, ever since I found out I was pregnant. And one thing I’m sure of—I can’t go on living with Harry. He doesn’t even seem real to me anymore. How can I explain it? The only thing that’s real to me is this baby inside me. Ron’s baby. They are my life now, Ron and his baby.”
    The simple statement, spoken with such conviction, ap­palled Turee more than the actual circumstances behind it. For a moment he could hardly speak, and when he did, his voice was cold with disapproval. “I don’t imagine Ron will feel quite so single-minded about it. After all, he’s sired one child by his first wife and two by his second, so this is hardly a unique occasion for him.”
    â€œIf you’re trying to make me jealous or angry, don’t bother. Ron’s had other women, other children, yes, but this is special. The baby’s special. I’m special.”
    There was no answer to this. Turee could only sit and stare silently and helplessly into the mouthpiece of the tele­phone, wishing with all his heart that he had stayed home and painted the garage, as his wife wanted him to.
    â€œRalph? Are you there?”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œRalph, I don’t want you to get the idea that I’m—that I thought this all out ahead of time, that I planned it. I really didn’t. It just happened, but once it happened, I realized how right it was for me.”
    â€œRight . Are you out of your mind, woman? What you’re doing, what you’ve done, is completely and unjustifiably