Alton Denslow was generally known as Pink, but the origin of the name
was shrouded in mystery. As “Pink” he had learned to waltz at the
dancing class, at a time when he was more attentive to the step than to
the music that accompanied it. As Pink Denslow he had played on a scrub
team at Harvard, and got two broken ribs for his trouble, and as Pink
he now paid intermittent visits to the Denslow Bank, between the hunting
season in October and polo at eastern fields and in California. At
twenty-three he was still the boy of the dancing class, very careful at
parties to ask his hostess to dance, and not noticeably upset when she
did, having arranged to be cut in on at the end of the second round.
Pink could not remember when he had not been in love with Lily Cardew.
There had been other girls, of course, times when Lily seemed far away
from Cambridge, and some other fair charmer was near. But he had always
known there was only Lily. Once or twice he would have become
engaged, had it not been for that. He was a blond boy, squarely built,
good-looking without being handsome, and on rainy Sundays when there
was no golf he went quite cheerfully to St. Peter's with his mother, and
watched a pretty girl in the choir.
He wished at those times that he could sing.
A pleasant cumberer of the earth, he had wrapped his talents in a napkin
and buried them by the wayside, and promptly forgotten where they were.
He was to find them later on, however, not particularly rusty, and he
increased them rather considerably before he got through.
It was this pleasant cumberer of the earth, then, who on the morning
after Lily's return, stopped his car before the Cardew house and got
out. Immediately following his descent he turned, took a square white
box from the car, ascended the steps, settled his neck in his collar and
his tie around it, and rang the bell.
The second man, hastily buttoned into his coat and with a faint odor
of silver polish about him, opened the door. Pink gave him his hat, but
retained the box firmly.
“Mrs. Cardew and Miss Cardew at home?” he asked. “Yes? Then you might
tell Grayson I'm here to luncheon--unless the family is lunching out.”
“Yes, sir,” said the footman. “No, sir, they are lunching at home.”
Pink sauntered into the library. He was not so easy as his manner
indicated. One never knew about Lily. Sometimes she was in a mood when
she seemed to think a man funny, and not to be taken seriously. And
when she was serious, which was the way he liked her--he rather lacked
humor--she was never serious about him or herself. It had been religion
once, he remembered. She had wanted to know if he believed in the
thirty-nine articles, and because he had seen them in the back of
the prayer-book, where they certainly would not be if there was not
authority for them, he had said he did.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account