Illusions of Love by Cynthia Freeman Read Free Book Online

wanted, so she resolved to make the best of it. If she had had any idea of what Martin’s first few days in that respected situation were to be, she might have jumped right out of the train and gone back to New Haven to protect him.
    Martin’s first suite mate a tall, myopic blond, dressed in tweeds, whose bags contained enough booze for the whole dorm, glanced briefly at Martin’s wavy black hair and olive
     
    skin and merely asked him if he’d like a drink.
    “Not just yet,” Martin said. Although his parents served hard liquor at their parties, his family rarely drank more than a little wine.
    “Right,” drawled the blond, who finally introduced himself as Lawrence Perry.
    “Your kind frowns on the indulgence. Well, Yale should loosen you up,” he added tolerantly.
    Martin retreated to his room. Lawrence was unlikely to become a friend, but he seemed harmless. His other suite-mates were less innocuous. They arrived together with a welter of athletic equipment which amazed Martin, used though he was to team sports. Two were twins, Tim and Chris Sanders. The third, Mike, had roomed with them at Groton. The twins were from Newton, Massachusetts;
    Mike from Philadelphia’s Main Line. They accepted Lawrence’s offer of vodka and orange juice with alacrity, and once they saw Martin’s awkward withdrawal, paid little attention. Only Chris asked as he mixed the drinks, “Roth … Roth. That name German? We wouldn’t want to room with a Nazi.”
    “Hardly,” said Martin. Then, turning to face them all, he said bluntly, “I’m Jewish.” No one answered and for a while Martin thought things must be okay. It was only when it was time for dinner that he knew that the Yale he had imagined existed only in his dreams.
    Lawrence pointed out that since classes hadn’t begun, they didn’t have to appear in the dining hall.
    “Let’s hit the Tail for steak and a beer.”
    Martin started up to go with them when Tim said sharply, “I doubt their beefs kosher. Isn’t that the word? Anyway, I can’t stop Yale from letting down their standards, but I can keep up my own.”
    Lawrence started to protest, but three strong drinks did little to stiffen his backbone and he finally followed the three of them out of the room with an apologetic wave.
    Martin sat stunned. He had always considered himself one of the
    privileged and not just because his family had money. The Roths could hardly be called nouveau riche Martin’s roots went back three generations. They were as much a part of San Francisco society as the Cabots were of Boston. This was his first encounter with outright antiSemitism.
    He made his way uneasily down to the dining hall, deciding he just must have been exceedingly unlucky in his suite mates But even though over the next week he ran into no other incidents outside his own rooms, he, found he wasn’t making friends. He wondered if he could be at fault. Perhaps his first experience in the dorm had made him too wary. But Martin had always been surrounded by friends Jewish and gentile. He’d never thought about religion before. His father had told him he had to stand up for the Jews who were being persecuted in Germany, but Martin wasn’t so happy to be fighting his own war during what should have been the happiest days of his life.
    It didn’t take long for him to realize that his suite mates were not so different from the rest of the men in his class. Over those first weeks, going to classes, the library, meals, he learned how small a 10 per cent quota really was. He noticed that many of the Jews hung out together they were twice as smart as most of their classmates, but singularly aloof and hardworking.
    It wasn’t easy for Martin to find out who he was, not after believing for so long that he knew. But what hurt the most was the enormous endowment that his father had given to the university in order for him to be accepted.
    Now that Martin had been made more aware of his Jewishness, he developed a