"Madeline L' Engle - A Live Coal in the Sea" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Engle Madeleine)

Something. Raffi trusted her grandmother.
On her bookcase were several framed photographs, one of
Madeleine L'Engle,26
Camilla and Mac standing under a large pine tree, with two small children
beside
them, Raffi's father, Taxi, and her Aunt Frankie. Beautiful little kids, not
scrawny and freckled and skinny as Raffi had been at their age.
Another frame held a wedding picture of Raffi's parents. Her mother was,
Raffi
thought, serenely beautiful. A small gold tiara held a flutter of veil. She
could have danced Cin derella at the ball, and Taxi was spectacular as the
prince, even though the ballet prince's costume would not have been a tuxedo.
If
it had been hard for Camilla's mother to be beautiful, were his amazing looks
hard on Raffi's father?
"Thank God I'm ugly," she said aloud, and knew she was lying to herself. If
she
was not beautiful, she was far from ugly. She had filled out. Her eyes were
like
chinks of emerald in a gamine's face. She was attractive in her own rather
unconventional way, and she had as many dates as she wanted, though she
didn't
take them seriously. Time for seriousness later. Time now to ask why she lied
to
herself so often.
Did her grandmother know that Raffi went regularly to Luisa, Dr. Rowan, the
shrink, and was helped? Even now in college she still went to her, taking the
train down to New York and back again the same day. But Dr. Rowan had left
for
Switzerland for a conference right after the Maria Mitchell ceremony, so had
not
been in New York when Taxi played that silly song and made his odd remarks.
If
Dr. Rowan had been available, Raffi might not have questioned her grandmother.
She looked out the window. Many of the trees were already bare. Lights were
on
all across the campus, shedding comfortable warmth.
What had her father been hinting at? What was the hidden message behind that
silly song? He had been brooding, simmering, all the way down to the city
from
the college after her grandmother's reception, barely listening as Frankie
talked about Seattle, and how popular Taxi's show was with all
A Live Coal in the Sea┬╗27
her friends. He was not satisfied with being 'merely' a successful television
personality, Raffi thought; it was not enough. He was the star of his soap
opera, was a frequent guest on the nighttime shows, did an occasional
Broadway
play, an occasional movie. But enough was not enough. He was not happy with
himself.
When had she begun to realize that?