Woody nodded. ' bastard should have given it to us while he was alive, so we could have enjoyed it then. If it's not impolite to hate the dead, I have to tell you something ...' Kendall said reproachfully, "Woody ...", let's not be hypocrites.- We all despised him, and he deserved it. Just look what he tried to -' Clark came into the room. He stood there, apologetically, ' me,' he said.- ' is a Miss. Julia Stanford at the door."
Chapter Thirteen
Julia Stanfordp' They stared at one another, frozen. ' hell she is!" Woody exploded. Tyler said quickly, ' suggest we adjourn to the library.'He turned to Clark.'Would you send the young lady in there, pleaset ', sir.' She stood in the doorway, looking at each of them, obviously ill at ease. ' ... I probably shouldn't have come,' she said.
"You're damn right!' Woody said. ' the hell are YOUT ''m Julia Stanford.' She was, almost stammering in her nervousness. '. I mean who are you really?' She started to say something, then shook her head.
"I ... My mother was Rosemary Nelson. Harry Stanford was my father.' The group looked at one another. ' you have any proof of that Tyler asked. 151 She swallowed. ' don't think I have any real proof." course you don't,' Woody snapped. ' do you have the nerve to -T Kendall interrupted. ' is rather a shock to all of us, as you can imagine. If what you're saying is true, then you're ... you're our half sister.' Julia nodded. ''re Kendall.'She turned to Tyler. ''re Tyler.' She turned to Woody. ' you're Woodrow. They call you Woody."
"As People Magazine could have told you,' Woody said sarcastically.
Tyler spoke up. ''m surd you can understand our position, Miss ... er ... Without some positive proof, there's no way we could possibly accept ..." understand.' She looked around nervously. 41 don't know why I came here.", I think you do,' Woody said. ''s called money."'m not interested in the money,' she said indignantly. ' truth is that I ... I came here hoping to meet my family: v Kendall was studying her. ' is your mothert ' passed away. When I read that our father died .. ' decided to look us up,'Woody said mockingly.
Tyler spoke. ' say you have no legal proof of who you are."9l ... I suppose not. I didn't even think about 152 t. But there are things. I couldn't possibly know about unless I had heard them from my mother." examplet Marc said. She stopped to think. ' remember my mother used to talk about 4 greenhouse in the back. She loved plants and flowers, and she would spend hours there.' Woody spoke up. ' of that greenhouse were in a lot of magazines." else did your mother tell yo@!' Tyler asked. ', there were so many things! She loved to talk about all of you and the good times you used to have.' She thou t for a moment. ' was the day s - gh he took you on the swan boats when you were very young. One of you almost fell overboard. I don't remember which one.' Woody and Kendall looked over at Tyler. ' was the one,' he said. ' took you shopping at Filene's. One of you got lost, and everyone was in a panic.' Kendall said slowly, ' got lost that day."? What elset Tyler, asked. ' took you to the Union Oyster House and you tasted [email protected] first oyster and got sick." remember that." They stared at each other, silent. She looked at Woody. ' and Mother went to the Charlestown Navy Yard to see the USS Constitution, and you wouldn't leave. She had to drag you away.' She turned to Kendall. ' in the Public 153 Garden one day, you picked some flowers and were almost arrested.' Kendall swallowed. ''s right! They were all listening to her intently now, fascinated. ' day, Mother took all of you to the Natural History museum, and you were terrified of the mastodon and sea serpent skeleton.' Kendall said slowly, ' of us slept that night.' Julia turned to Woody. ' Christmas, she took you skating. You fell down and broke a tooth. When you were seven years old, you fell out of a tree and had to have your leg stitched up. You had a scar.' Woody said reluctantly, ' still do.' , She turned to the others.
"One of you was bitten by a dog. I forgot which one. My mother rushed you to the emergency room at Massachusetts General.' Tyler nodded. ' had to have- shots against rabies.' Her words were coming out in a torrent now. ', when you were eight years old, you ran away. You were going to Hollywood to become an actor. Your father was furious with you. He made you go to your room without -dinner. Mother sneaked some food up to your room.' Woody nodded, silent. ' ... I don't know what else I can tell you. I ... She suddenly remembered something. ' have a photograph in my purse.' She opened her purse and took it out. She handed the picture to Kendall. 154 They all gathered around to look at it. It was a picture of the three of them when they were children, standing next to an attractive young woman in a governess's uniform.
"Mother gave me that.' Tyler asked, ' she leave you anything else?" She shook her head. '. I'm sorry. She didn't want anything around that reminded. her of Harry Stanford." you, of course,' Woody said.
She turned to him, defiantly. ' don't care whether you believe me or not. You don't understand ... I ... I was so hoping -' Slid, broke off.
Tyler spoke. ' my sister said, your sudden appearance is rather a shock for us. I mean ... someone appearing out of nowhere and claimingto be a member of the family ... you can see our problem. I think we need a littl e time to discuss this." course, I understand." are you staying?, ' the Tremont House." don't you go back there,? We'll have a car take you. And we'll be in touch shortly.' She nodded. ' right.' She looked at each of them for a moment, and then said softly, "No matter what you think - you're my family."'ll walk you to the door,' Kendall said. She smiled. ''s all right. I can find my own way. I feel as-if I know every inch of this house.' 155 They watched her turn and walk out of the room. Kendall said,'Welll It ... it looks as though we have a sister.' 11 don't believe it,' Woody retorted. ' seems to me ... ' Marc began. They were -all talking at once. Tyler raised a hand. ' isn't getting us anywhere. Let's look at this logically. In a sense, this person is on trial here and we're her jurors. It's up to us to determine her innocence or guilt. In a jury trial, the decision must be unanimous. We must all agree.' Woody nodded.