United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
For a week or two life was lifted out of the groove by a professor's
daughter. Burbank introduced Hugh to her, and at first he was attracted
by her calm dignity. He called three times and then gave her up in
despair. Her dignity hid an utterly blank mind. She was as uninteresting
as her father, and he had the reputation, well deserved, of being the
dullest lecturer on the campus.
Only one event disturbed the pleasant calm of Hugh's life after his
argument with Tucker. He did not attend Prom because he knew no girl
whom he cared to ask; he failed again to make his letter and took his
failure philosophically; and he received a note from Janet Harton
telling him that she was engaged to "the most wonderful man in the
world"--and he didn't give a hoot if she was.
Just after Easter vacation the Nu Deltas gave their annual house dance.
Hugh looked forward to it with considerable pleasure. True, he was not
"dragging a woman," but several of the brothers were going "stag"; so he
felt completely at ease.
The freshmen were put to work cleaning the house, the curtains were sent
to the laundry, bedroom closets and dresser drawers were emptied of
anything the girls might find too interesting, and an enormously
expensive orchestra was imported from New York. Finally a number of
young alumni, the four patronesses, and the girls appeared.
Getting dressed for the dance was a real event in Hugh's life. He had
worn evening clothes only a few times before, but those occasions,
fraternity banquets and glee club concerts, were, he felt, relatively
unimportant. The dance, however, was different, and he felt that he must
look his best, his very "smoothest." He was a rare undergraduate; he
owned everything necessary to wear to an evening function--at least,
everything an undergraduate considered necessary. He did not own a
dress-suit, and he would have had no use for it if he had; only Tuxedos
were worn.
He dressed with great care, tying and retying his tie until it was
knotted perfectly. When at last he drew on his jacket, he looked himself
over in the mirror with considerable satisfaction. He knew that he was
dressed right.
It hardly entered his mind that he was an exceedingly good-looking young
man. Vanity was not one of his faults. But he had good reason to be
pleased with the image he was examining for any sartorial defects. He
had brushed his sandy brown hair until it shone; his shave had left his
slender cheeks almost as smooth as a girl's; his blue eyes were very
bright and clear; and the black suit emphasized his blond cleanness: it
was a wholesome-looking, attractive youth who finally pulled on his
top-coat and started happily across the campus for the Nu Delta house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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