Capitalists and financiers -- Fiction; Psychological fiction
So while they were gone on their honeymoon Ellsworth began the revision
on an estimated cost of three thousand dollars, including the
furniture. It was not completed for nearly three weeks after their
return; but when finished made a comparatively new house. The
dining-room bay hung low over the grass, as Frank wished, and the
windows were diamond-paned and leaded, swiveled on brass rods. The
parlor and dining-room were separated by sliding doors; but the
intention was to hang in this opening a silk hanging depicting a
wedding scene in Normandy. Old English oak was used in the dining-room,
an American imitation of Chippendale and Sheraton for the sitting-room
and the bedrooms. There were a few simple water-colors hung here and
there, some bronzes of Hosmer and Powers, a marble venus by Potter, a
now forgotten sculptor, and other objects of art—nothing of any
distinction. Pleasing, appropriately colored rugs covered the floor.
Mrs. Cowperwood was shocked by the nudity of the Venus which conveyed
an atmosphere of European freedom not common to America; but she said
nothing. It was all harmonious and soothing, and she did not feel
herself capable to judge. Frank knew about these things so much better
than she did. Then with a maid and a man of all work installed, a
program of entertaining was begun on a small scale.
Those who recall the early years of their married life can best realize
the subtle changes which this new condition brought to Frank, for, like
all who accept the hymeneal yoke, he was influenced to a certain extent
by the things with which he surrounded himself. Primarily, from certain
traits of his character, one would have imagined him called to be a
citizen of eminent respectability and worth. He appeared to be an ideal
home man. He delighted to return to his wife in the evenings, leaving
the crowded downtown section where traffic clamored and men hurried.
Here he could feel that he was well-stationed and physically happy in
life. The thought of the dinner-table with candles upon it (his idea);
the thought of Lillian in a trailing gown of pale-blue or green silk—he
liked her in those colors; the thought of a large fireplace flaming
with solid lengths of cord-wood, and Lillian snuggling in his arms,
gripped his immature imagination. As has been said before, he cared
nothing for books, but life, pictures, trees, physical contact—these,
in spite of his shrewd and already gripping financial calculations,
held him. To live richly, joyously, fully—his whole nature craved that.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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