ALEXANDRA CALLED HER MOTHER and said now she, Alexandra, was homeless, could she leave Sascha there by the golf course, with the kittens, where he was happy? She knew her mother to be a careful driver. She called Eric Stenstrom and said could he look in on Sascha every now and then, and gave him the address. Every good child deserves a father. She called the man from Amblin and said she would take the part. Yes, she would play opposite Michael Douglas. You bet.
She called the theatre. She wasn’t going to argue about not going back to A Doll’s House, she wasn’t going to sue: let Daisy Longriff bare her breasts every night. Best wishes, Daisy! Since apparently Management had expected her, Alexandra, to do that very thing should they be obliged to accept her return to the part, they on their side had broken the terms of her contract, so goodbye. She was on her way to Hollywood.
Alexandra stayed with Vilna in the meantime. But declined to share Vilna’s bed. She gave Diamond to Kevin Crump: Diamond would be happy with a proper occupation, herding cows to the milking sheds. Kevin Crump had a broken arm following a hit-and-run accident with the tractor, but was now engaged to Sheldon Smythe’s secretary, and was happy.
Alexandra best-wished everyone on her departure. Ned, again, and Abbie, and even Leah, and Vilna, and Arthur, and Dave Linden; Dr. Moebius, and Mr. Quatrop, and even Hamish, who kept calling and writing with remorse and apologies and whom she could not be bothered to despise or dislike, and Theresa, who, on hearing about the fire, instantly returned such of Alexandra’s treasures as she had taken—offering them as gifts, of course: the Belgian lace tablecloth, the Arts and Crafts fire-tongs, the birdcage and the glass bowl. She best-wished Mr. Lightfoot, and Mrs. Paddle and even Chrissie, and her mother, and her mother’s husband, whose name she had forgotten, and Sascha, and Sascha with all her heart, weeping but doing it, leaving her child because everyone was right on that subject. Sometimes grandmothers are better than mothers, with children. Best-wishing.
She could not best-wish Sheldon Smythe, he was not worth it, and she could, but would not, best-wish Jenny Linden. She must be allowed some indulgence, some caprice. And she best-wished Ned again, because what was the point of not? Ned was dead. And she was off.