"Judith Merril - Project Nursemaid" - читать интересную книгу автора (Merril Judith)

didn't have to tell him about anything. Only he should have been older, and not so
nice-looking.
He pulled up a chair for her, and went through all the ordinary gestures of
courtesy, getting her settled. He was wearing a Colonel's uniform all right, but he
didn 't look like one, and he didn't act like one. He took a pack of cigarettes out of his
desk drawer, offered her one, and lit it for her. All that time, she didn't have to say
anything; and by then, she was able to talk.
The application form was a necessary formality. He wrote down the name and
address she gave, and a little doubtfully, after AGE, nineteen. She surprised him by
claiming student as her occupation, instead of the conventional housewife, but
every-thing else went according to expectations. She had had measles and mumps,
but no chicken pox or scarlet fever or whooping cough. No operations, no previous
pregnancies, no congenital conditions. He checked down the list rapidly,
indifferently. When she 'd had her physical, they'd know the accurate answers to all
these things. Meantime, the girl was answering familiar questions that she had
answered a hundred times before, in less frightening places, and they were getting
near the bottom of the sheet.
He looked over at her, smiling a little, frowning a little, and his voice was
apologetic with the first personal, and pertinent, ques-tion. 'Have you had a medical
examination yet? '
'No, they said the interview was first .. . Ohl You mean for ...? Yes. Yes, of
course.'
'Do you know how far along you are?' His eyes were on the form, and he
scribbled as he talked.
She took a deep breath. `Eleven weeks,' she said. `The doctor said last week it
was ten, soтАФso I guess it's eleven now,' she finished weakly.
'Do you think your husband would be willing to come down for a physical? We
like to get records on both parents if we can ...' There was no answer. He looked up,
and she was shaking her head; her face was white, and she wasn't breathing at all.
`You're quite sure?' he said politely. `It's not necessary; but it does work to the
advantage of the child, if we have as much information as possible.'
'I'm sorry,' she said tightly. 'HeтАФ' She paused, and made up her mind. 'He
doesn't know about it. We're both still in school, Colonel. If .I told him, he'd think
he had to quit, and start working. I can't tell him.'
 It sounded like the truth, almost, but her face was too stiffly composed, and the
pulse in her temple beat visibly against the pale mask. Her words were too precise,
when her breath was coming so quickly. She wasn't used to lying.
`You realize that what you're doing here is a real and im-portant contribution, Mrs.
Barton? Don't you think he might see it that way? Maybe if I talked to him... ?'
She shook her head again. 'No. If it's that important, I guess I better ...' The voice
trailed off, almost out of control, and her lips stayed open a little, her eyes wide,
frightened, not knowing what the end of that sentence could possibly be.
The Colonel pushed the printed sheet away from him, and looked at her intently. It
was time for the last question.
'Mrs. BartonтАФ What do people call you, anyway? Cccille? Cissy? Ceil? Do you
mind... ?'
'No, that's all right. Ceil.' It was a very small smile, but she was obviously more
comfortable.
'All right, Ceil. Now lookтАФthere's a line on the bottom there that asks your reason
for volunteering. I wish it wasn't there, because I don't like inviting lies. I know, and