Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle ManLewis, Sinclair
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Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man
Lewis, Sinclair
Courtship -- Fiction; Love stories; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Middle-aged men -- United States -- Fiction
“And the beautiful lack of development of his legs! It’s like the good
old cycling days, when every draper’s assistant went bank-holidaying….
I don’t know him, but I suppose he’s some tuppeny-ha’p’ny illustrator.”
“Or perhaps he has convictions about fried bananas, and dines on a bean
saute. O Aengusmere! Shades of Aengus!”
“Not at all. When they look as gentle as he they always hate the
capitalists as a militant hates a cabinet minister. He probably dines
on the left ear of a South-African millionaire every evening before
exercise at the barricades…. I say, look over there; there’s a real
artist going across the green. You can tell he’s a real artist because
he’s dressed like a navvy and—”
Mr. Wrenn was walking away, across the common room, quite sure that
every one was eying him with amusement. And it was too late to change
his clothes. It was six already.
He stuck out his jaw, and remembered that he had planned to hide the
“letter from the duke” in Istra’s napkin that it might be the greater
surprise. He sat down at their table. He tucked the letter into the
napkin folds. He moved the vase of orchids nearer the center of the
table, and the table nearer the open window giving on the green. He
rebuked himself for not being able to think of something else to
change. He forgot his clothes, and was happy.
At six-fifteen he summoned a boy and sent him up with a message that
Mr. Wrenn was waiting and high tea ready.
The boy came back muttering, “Miss Nash left this note for you, sir,
the stewardess says.”
Mr. Wrenn opened the green-and-white Caravanserai letter excitedly.
Perhaps Istra, too, was dressing for the party! He loved all s’prises
just then. He read:
Mouse dear, I’m sorrier than I can tell you, but you know I warrned you
that bad Istra was a creature of moods, and just now my mood orders me
to beat it for Paris, which I’m doing, on the 5.17 train. I won’t say
good-by—I hate good-bys, they’re so stupid, don’t you think? Write me
some time, better make it care Amer. Express Co., Paris, because I
don’t know yet just where I’ll be. And please don’t look me up in
Paris, because it’s always better to end up an affair without
explanations, don’t you think? You have been wonderfully kind to me,
and I’ll send you some good thought-forms, shall I?
I. N.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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