I have faced it. I love Bobby. To love—it is to give. Bobby’s wife
must give. The hands that take into their keeping that precious
thing—his genius—what tender, comprehending hands they must be.
There’ll be times, lots of ’em, when Bobby’s wife will have to do all
the loving for two. There’ll be times when he will thrust her out,
and if she sits whimpering on the doorstep that it’s cold out there,
heaven help her—how he’ll hate her. There’ll be times when the work
presses, when he’s distrait—knows she’s there just as he knows the
house furnishings are there, bed near centre of room, bureau against
west wall, light above——If she gets frightened at the wilted leaves
and jerks his love for her out of his body to look at the roots too
often, then heaven help you, Robert Haralson.
Bobby, Bobby, I’d know at a glance—without a glance. When you opened
the door I’d _feel_, Bobby. Sometimes her tired-out man child
quivering with his day’s toil asks mother love of his wife. She’s
got to be counsellor, comforter, friend—comrade with whom to forget
life’s cares. Out of all the world she’s got to be the one woman that
is his _need_. I am your _need_! If disaster stripped you of all that
the world has showered on you, if it reduced you to the hurdy-gurdy
man who grinds his organ under your window—Bobby, Bobby, would Dicky
_love_ the gathering of the pennies?
_April 28th.
Morning._
Bobby wires again: “What are you up to, Caroline, that you didn’t let
me know you were here, that Dicky didn’t know; that Elliott wasn’t
told it was Dicky with me; that you were so naughty in the Square the
other night as to laugh at my confusion? Little girl with eyes like
moonflowers, all right for youse. And mum’s the word.”
“Her eyes, full and clear, with their white-encircled, gray irises,
are like moonflowers.” That’s what Bobby says on page 131 about his
heroine. And back in one of his first letters to me, “Please turn to
page 131 of the book and try to think whose eyes I tried to describe.”
_April 28th.
Noon._
On the heels of Bobby’s telegram I have this letter from him.
_To-day, Wednesday._
MY DEAR CAROLINE HOWARD:
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