The Whale by Mark Beauregard Read Free Book Online

your father about the inheritance. We’ll inquire about houses. What harm can it do to propose an idea?”
    Lizzie fiddled with the whalebone cameo at her neck. Herman had bought the brooch for her the previous fall, when he had gone to London to find an English publisher for
White-Jacket
: its silhouette depicted the three graces with their arms entwined.
    â€œYou are always so fanciful, Herman,” Lizzie said sadly. Her tone brought tears to Herman’s eyes—he could remember a time when she had said the same thing with admiration.
    â€œBut this will be
your
dream.” With this lie, Herman could no longer contain himself. He slid down to his knees in front of Lizzie and wept like a child.
    Herman’s cousin Robert walked in and took off his hat. “What’s burning?” He heard the weeping before his eyes had adjusted to the dimness of the kitchen, and he nearly tripped over the sobbing Melvilles in his haste to reach the stove.
    â€œWhat goes on here?” Robert asked. He found a towel and used it to grab the hot pan. “What’s wrong?”
    Lizzie eased herself out of Herman’s embrace and stood up. “Nothing.” She snuffled. “Nothing is wrong.” She smiled at Robert, who held out the ruined porridge as evidence that something was, indeed, wrong. “We have just been talking about the future.”
    â€œThe future?”
    Herman wiped tears from his eyes and stood up, as well. “Robert, we are moving to the Berkshires.”
    Robert went white. “When did you decide this?”
    â€œJust now.”
    â€œJust now?”
    â€œThis very moment, as you were walking in. We will buy a farm somewhere near yours.”
    â€œWell, it’s far from certain,” said Lizzie. “It’s just an idea that Herman has.”
    â€œBut how can you afford it?” Robert said. “Aren’t your creditors even now baying at your door in Manhattan? Isn’t that why you’ve been staying here all month
at my expense
?”
    â€œWe just love it so much here,” Herman said. “Haven’t you always loved the Berkshires yourself?”
    â€œYes,” Robert fumed. “I have always loved the Berkshires myself. But you cannot purchase a farm by loving it. Have you learned nothing from the examples of our own fathers?” Herman’s and Robert’s grandfathers had been prosperous businessmen and heroes of the Revolution, but that was where the success of the Melville family had ended. Herman’s father had died raving mad with a fever while negotiating to avoid debtor’s prison; Robert’s father had died penniless on the western frontier, after a lifetime of hapless misadventures.
    â€œWhat has happened, Robert?” said Lizzie. “Has something happened?”
    â€œI have sold Broad Hall! The farm is bankrupt. I am moving my family back to Galena.”
    â€œSold Broad Hall?” Herman asked. “Why?”
    â€œIs there some nuance of the word ‘bankrupt’ that escapes you, Herman?”
    â€œBut everything seems to be going so well.”
    â€œHave you encountered a single guest at the inn since you arrived? Have you seen anyone working the fields?”
    â€œBut is it already sold then? We could not, for example, buy it ourselves?”
    Robert looked at him for a moment with dumb fury before flinging the pot of burnt oatmeal at his head. Herman ducked. The pan smacked the wall and clattered across the floor, splattering gruel in its wake. Lizzie held her hands palm outward to Robert in a gesture of peace. Malcolm wailed. Robert stormed out of the kitchen and banged the front door closed behind him.
    Herman lifted Malcolm out of his chair and cradled him protectively in his arms. He kissed Lizzie’s head and led her up the stairs to their room. They shut the door behind them and sat together on the edge of their bed, holding Malcolm between them, shushing and