Catholics -- Fiction; Chicago (Ill.) -- Fiction; Divorce -- Fiction; Married women -- Fiction
They had snails _à la Max_, whereof the frame is finer than the
picture, as well as Maxian frogs' legs, boned and wrapped in lettuce
leaves, and, not without misgivings, a bottle of claret.
Stevens, unaware that it was their last time of pretending, abided by
the rules. They talked shop and shows and vacations. Georgia slipped
in a few appropriate words concerning her cultural progress. They were
both somewhat severe upon the orchestra, because there was too much
noise to the music, so Mason beckoned the head waiter and "requested"
the barcarole from _Tales of Hoffman_, and they floated off in it
toward the edge of what they knew.
It is said that most people have at least two personalities. In this
respect Georgia was like them. One side of her was the woman of 1850,
and the times previous; whether mother, wife, daughter, maiden or
mistress, primarily something in relation to man, her individuality
submerged in this relationship, as a soldier's individuality is
submerged in his uniform.
The other aspect of Georgia's nature was that of the "new woman," the
women hoped for in 1950. Bold, determined, taught to think, relentless
in defense of her own personality, insistent that men shall have less
and she shall have more sexual freedom, she is first of all herself and
only next to that, something to a man.
When the woman of 1850 managed to get in a word about Jim and his
fruitless wait at home, the woman of 1950 answered, "Shall you now be
absurd enough to leave the man you love for one you hate?"
"Shall we take in a show?" he suggested when they had finished their
coffee.
"I believe I'd rather walk home."
"Why, it's five miles." He was somewhat disconcerted by her energy,
for he was distinctly let down, in reaction from his day's work, and
his afternoon's excitement of looking forward to an unusual meeting
with her, which had turned out after all to be more than commonly
placid.
"Five miles--and a heavenly night. The first of spring. Come, brace
up."
"You must be feeling pretty strong."
"No," she said, "I am getting a bit headachy, I want some air, to get
out of four walls and merge into the darkness--if you know what I mean."
"You're not going to be sick?" he asked concernedly.
"O, no--it's just a touch of spring fever, I imagine."
There is a cement path with a sloping concrete breakwater which winds
between Lake Michigan on one side and Lincoln Park on the other for a
distance of several miles. Here come the people in endless procession
from morning until midnight, two by two, male and female, walking slow
and talking low, permeated by the souls of children begging life.
It is a chamber of Maeterlinck's azure palace of the unborn.
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