The Relentless CityBenson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)
General
The Relentless City
Benson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)
British -- United States -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Upper class -- Fiction
'Bertie, Bertie!' she cried as he came in, 'I wake up to find myself
famous. I am magnetic, it appears, beyond all powers of comprehension.
I am vimmy--am I really vimmy, do you think, and what does it mean? I
am a soulful incarnation of adorable----Oh no; it's Teddy Roosevelt
who is the adorable incarnation. Yes, that dear angel lying there is
Teddy Roosevelt and an adorable incarnation, which would never have
happened if we hadn't come to America, would it, darling? Not you,
Bertie. I christened him on the way over, and you shall be godfather,
because he wants a new collar. Let me see, where was I? Bertie, I was a
success last night. Enormous. I knew I should be. Now sit down, and try
to get a word in edge-ways, if you can.'
'I congratulate you, Dorothy,' he said--'I congratulate you most
heartily.'
'Thanks. I say, Teddy Roosevelt, the kind young gentleman
congratulates us. Now, what are you doing on these opulent shores?
Looking out for opulence, I guess. Going to be married, are we? Well,
Teddy is too, if we can find a suitable young lady; and so am I. Oh,
such fun! and we'll tear up all our past histories, and put them in the
fire.'
She sat half up on her couch, and looked at him.
'It's two years since we met last, Bertie,' she said; 'and you--why,
you've become a man. You always were a pretty boy, and you don't make
a bad-looking man. And I'm vimmy. I used not to be vimmy, did I? But
we are all changing as time goes on. Really, I'm very glad to see you
again.'
Bertie felt unaccountably relieved at her manner. His relief was of
short duration. Dorothy Emsworth arranged her pillows more comfortably,
and lit another cigarette.
'I wanted to see you before you left New York,' she said, 'because I am
coming down to stay with Mrs. Palmer next Saturday, and we had better
know how we stand. So, what are you over here for? Did you come here to
get married? And if so, why not?'
She lay back as she spoke, stretching her arms out with a gesture that
somehow reminded him of a cat stretching its forelegs and unsheathing
the claws of its silent, padded feet. His feeling of relief was ebbing
a little.
'Why not, indeed?' he said.
'Dear Bertie, echo-conversation is so tedious,' she said.
'You always used to be rather given to it. So you have come out to
get married. That is settled, then. Do ask me to the wedding. The
"Voice that Breathed"; wedding march from "Lohengrin"; ring dropping
and running down the aisle like a hoop; orange-flowers; tears; sudden
unexplained hysterics of the notorious Mrs. Emsworth; deportment of
the bride; wedding-cake; puff-puff. And the curtain drops with extreme
rapidity. O lor', Teddy R.! what devils we all are, to be sure!'
Bertie's feeling of relief had quite gone, but his nervousness had gone
also. He felt he knew the facts now.
'I see,' he said: 'you propose to make trouble. I'm glad you told me.'
'I told you?' she asked, laughing lazily. 'Little vimmy me? I say, I'm
brainy too.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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