Who's sorry now?

said, ”We’re going to have to have some help with this trunk. Your grandfather can’t endanger his hands or back trying to carry it. It’s very heavy. I’ll go and see if the newspaper editor, Jack Summer, can help me.”
    ”I hate putting so many people to all this trouble.”
    ”It’s no trouble at all. And you can do me a favor. Hide this box of books in your house until my sister’s birthday, if you would.”
    ”Small payment for all you’ve done,” she said, fishing in her handbag for the keys to the building.
    Robert and Jack were back in minutes. ”How can a trunk be so darned heavy?” Jack asked.
    ”Mr. Kurtz is a tailor,” Robert explained. ”A Master Tailor, in fact. He must have his sewing machine and all his shears, scissors, and threads in it. Probably lots of fabrics as well.”
    They were both out of breath by the time they’d hoisted it up the two steps to the shop. They could hear voices from the floor above, where there were probably living quarters.
    ”In English, Grandpa,” came Mrs. Smithson’s voice. ”But you know German, too.”
    ”Not very well, Grandpa, and I don’t speak it anymore. You shouldn’t either. German speakers aren’t very well liked in America these days.”
    She came down the stairs and shook hands with both Robert and Jack and thanked them again. ”He’s an old man and stuck in his ways. I guess he’s entitled to be, but it’s not wise to speak German in the States today.”
    She said to Robert and Jack, ”Just leave the trunk here in the middle of the room. Grandpa can sort out where to put his professional objects and take his clothing and personal things upstairs later.”
    ”Mrs. Smithson, could I interview your grandfather when he’s settled in?” Jack Summer asked.
    ”I suppose so. But why?”
    ”People in town like feeling they know a little about newcomers to town. And it might help him get new customers.”
    Mrs. Smithson, who was only in her mid-thirties, was looking very tired, haggard, and much older than her years. ”That’s a good idea. But give us both a few days rest, please. It’s been a long, harrowing trip from Berlin to here.”
    ”When did you leave Germany?” Robert asked as he opened the passenger door of the Duesie and helped get her settled in comfortably.
    Mrs. Smithson waited until he was behind the wheel and said, April first.”
    ”Just in time,” Robert said and made a relieved whistle. According to Jack Summer, anyone who isn’t a native German couldn’t leave the country without the permission of the police after April fourth.”
    ”Good Lord! We made it out in the nick of time! We had to take the train to Le Havre, France, then cross the English Channel in a horrible boat in a storm. In England, we went to Portsmouth to get the ship for New York, and then took the train to here. My grandpa has been away from home for seventeen long days. It’s hard on an old man to travel that much.”
    ”It would be hard on anyone,” Robert agreed. Mrs. Smithson and her grandfather had probably come over second class. Robert and all his family, in the old ”rich” days, always went first class, where they were pampered with champagne, heated towels, an excess of excellent food, and luxurious fresh bedding every day.
    Those days were long over. If he had to go to Europe these days, he’d be in steerage or hiding in a lifeboat.
    ”It was awful,” Mrs. Smithson said as they approached her house. All I want is a good hot bath and a shampoo, and to sleep for ten or eleven hours in my own bed.” She paused for a moment as Robert stopped in front of her house. Then she added, ”But it was worth it all to get Grandpa back here.”
    ”What do you mean by ‘back here’?”
    She smiled. ”He was born in St. Louis. His father was a brewer and took the family to Germany when Grandpa was only eight years old. So Grandfather is an American, too. Though he couldn’t have told the police that. He had no birth certificate. The family spoke German at work, and English at home. That’s why he speaks English, albeit with a slight German accent.”
    Robert insisted on carrying her big suitcase into her house and upstairs. And then he went back to the car to take Lily’s books in. ”I hope my sister isn’t at Miss Jurgen’s wondering what’s in the box.”
    ”If she asks, tell her the box was mine. And this isn’t one of the days she gives lessons anyway. Again, I thank you so much. I simply couldn’t have stood