It had to be You

Times, would reprint the speech and Robert could more fully enjoy it in the warmth and comfort of Grace and Favor. He picked up his valise and staggered toward the train station,wondering why he’d thought this such a good idea. Maybe when he was an old man, he’d remember it fondly and bore his grandchildren to death repeating the story year after year.
    He hoped to sleep all the way back to Voorburg but discovered that he’d lost his reserved-seat ticket somehow and had to stand the whole time.
    He took the only town taxi back up the hill, and though the driver always scared him to death, the way he drove so fast and recklessly up the narrow winding road to Grace and Favor, Robert fell fast asleep before they even started the ascent.

    “Robert, you look awful,“ Lily said as the taxi driver dragged Robert through the front door. Lily had been on her way down the stairs. She approached him cautiously. “You’re not drunk, are you?“
    “I’m not,“ he said, slurring his words. “I’m just tired. Could you help me upstairs?“
    “Are you ill?“ Now Lily was seriously worried. She’d never seen him so hangdog. He had apparently tried to shave and nicked himself all over his chin. His hair was in complete disarray. He looked and smelled like a bum.
    She paid the taxi driver, then took Robert by the elbow and led him upstairs to his room. “I’m running you a bath,“ she said.
    “I’ll drown,“ he whimpered.
    “You won’t. You need a good long sleep, but frankly, you stink of trains and stale popcorn and something else I can’t identify.“
    “Woman. Awful perfume. Next to me. Train,“ he said pathetically as he watched the water filling the tub.
    Ten minutes later, at nine o’clock in the evening, she put him to bed. He hadn’t even toweled off the water. When he came back out of the bathroom, his pajamas were damp. He’ll dry out in bed, Lily thought.
    Then she went back down the stairs to alert everyone to leave Robert alone until the next day. Mimi was disappointed. “I thought he’d be gone longer. I need to do a good turnout of his room.“
    “Not until I say so,“ Lily said firmly.
    She got up several times during the night to check that he was still alive. Given that he was snoring loudly each time, she assumed he was all right.
    He was still snoring at ten o’clock Sunday morning. She knocked on the door and said, “Time to get up, Robert.“
    “Huhhh?“ was his only reply.
    She opened the door and saw that he was still in the same position she’d put him in the night before. “You’ll stiffen up like a corpse if you don’t move around a little.“ She grabbed one of his arms to get him vertical.
    He looked around the room and at Lily as if he didn’t quite know who she was or where he was. Then he groaned as he feebly pushed aside thesheets and bedspread and swung his legs to the ground. He had to keep one hand on the mattress to get upright. “I feel two hundred years old.“
    “You only look ninety,“ Lily said with a smile. “What happened to you?“
    “I haven’t slept since I left here,“ he mumbled, testing his footing. I tried, but a hundred and fifty people stepped on me. Maybe more. I lost my reserved-seat train ticket and had to stand all the way home until I fell into the taxi.“
    “But did you enjoy anything?“
    “I wouldn’t have missed it, even if I’d known what a misery I’d be in afterward,“ he said with a halfhearted smile that changed to pain when his facial muscles moved. He felt his chin. “What have I done to myself?“
    “You shaved badly. Yesterday I purchased an ointment for burns and cuts. I bet that will help your chin. Now clean up, get dressed, and come and eat something. You need nourishment.“
    “You might have to hold my spoon,“ he said. “I used to be able to stay up all night dancing and drinking at parties and still play polo the next day. What has happened to me since then?”
    She had no good answer, so she left the room so that he could get dressed.
    Half an hour later Robert appeared in the kitchen, looking much more like himself. His hair was washed and combed. He’d shaved, all but his sore chin. Lily applied the pungent ointment she and Mrs. Prinney had bought for the household from Kelly Connor. Robert didn’t like the smell but admitted it made his chin feel a lot better.
    “We’ve been offered another job,“ Lily said, sitting down across from him while Mrs. Prinney was making him pancakes with