nor Henry wanted to hear about. They agreed that the discipline at the school was foolishly demanding, certainly not Mauriceâs cup of tea.
âMy sympathy for the Dolans never wavered, Father, and I will tell you why. I feared that I might have acted as they did if we had ever had children.â
âI doubt that, Amos.â
âI will never know.â
When his school days had ended after two quarters of grades featuring letters seldom seen on a transcript, Maurice was set up in an apartment on the Near North Side, the better to look for suitable employment. He interviewed well. He made a marvelous first impression. All he lacked was ambition and a desire to work. The list of companies by which he had been briefly employed made a sad litany. The truth was that Maurice had no worry about his future. Henryâs success ensured that.
Maurice laughed when Henry threatened to cut him off. âIt canât be done. Iâm your heir.â
âIâll give everything I have to charity.â
âNo you wonât.â
He was right. It was too late to reverse a lifetime of indulgence.
One day, Vivian stopped by Mauriceâs apartment. The door was opened by a woman.
âA floozy,â she reported to Henry, shuddering. âBrazen. And the way she asked me who I was.â
Henry cut off Mauriceâs rent money and stopped his allowance, bringing an apparently contrite Maurice home.
âSheâs nobody,â he said when Henry demanded to know who the girl was.
âIs she living with you?â
âOf course not.â
But Maurice was a stranger to the truth. âFor Godâs sake, son, consider your soul. Youâre on the path to perdition.â
Maurice hung his head. Did the boy still believe anything? âIâve been thinking of becoming a nurse.â
Henry just stared at him. This was not a young man he would want near any patient of his. Why couldnât he be like his sister, Sheila?
âI guess that isnât realistic.â
Amos paused. âFather, the one thing Maurice did well, very well, was golf. He won club tournaments. He almost qualified for the Open as an amateur.â Good as he was, though, his performance was far below that of the pros.
It was golf that took him to California. After several weeks, he telephoned, excited. âI have found my niche, Dad.â
His niche was a driving range in Huntington Beach. The owner needed a partner. The place ran itself. It was a gold mine. Henry came to Amos to discuss the proposition.
âWhy does the owner need a partner?â
âExpansion. Thereâs an opportunity to double the business.â
Amos had flown to California. The location of the driving range seemed excellent. The adjacent land could be acquired. Sprucing up the place would help. Amos was able to report to Henry that he had never seen his son so serious. But the proposed partner, Hadley Markus, was not a man to inspire confidence. He had the moist eye of a drinker. His stomach looked like a bass drum hanging over his belt. He needed a shave.
âCould you buy him out?â Amos asked Maurice while they dined at a hotel.
âAre you serious?â
âFind out.â
Markus was interested in the proposition. In the end, he stayed on for a time as manager, wanting to continue to occupy the little office where he had spent so many years. Amos flew home, looking out over the cloud cover, praying for the Dolansâ sake that Maurice had grown up at last.
With Henry, Amos went over the papers he had brought from California.
âWeâll want to make sure there is no lien on the property. I am having that checked. Otherwise, it seems sound.â Then he looked steadily at Henry. âThe fly in the ointment, I need not say, is Maurice.â
âI know. But he seems truly determined to make a go of this.â
There was to be a silent partner, Catherine Adams, another transplanted