It would give him comfort, he thought, it would...
It would give him comfort, he thought, it would help him right then if, of all things, he knew that resting out in the pasture beyond their dinner table was Dawn's herd, with Count, the big bull, protecting themIf Dawn still had Count, if only CountA relief-filled, realityless moment passed before he realized that of course it would be a comfort to have Count roaming the dark pasture among the cows, because then Merry would be roaming among the guests, here, Merry, in her circus pajamas, leaning up against the back of her father's chair, whispering into her father's earOrcutt drinks whiskeyA mischievous intelligence that was utterly harmless--back then unanarchic and childish and well within bounds Meanwhile he heard himself saying, "Dad, take some more steak," in what he knew was a hopeless effort--a good son's ef-357 fort--to get his self-abandoned father to be, if not tranquil, less insistently chagrined over the inadequacies of the non-Jewish human race "I'll tell you who I'll take some steak for--for this young lady Spearing a slice from the platter that one of the serving girls was holding beside him, he dumped it onto Jessie's plate
