Main Street Sinclair Lewis (books to read romance TXT) đ
- Author: Sinclair Lewis
Book online «Main Street Sinclair Lewis (books to read romance TXT) đ». Author Sinclair Lewis
She told herself that she was the daughter of a judge, the wife of a doctor, and that she did not care to know a capering tailor. She told herself that she was not responsive to menâ ââ ⊠not even to Percy Bresnahan. She told herself that a woman of thirty who heeded a boy of twenty-five was ridiculous. And on Friday, when she had convinced herself that the errand was necessary, she went to Nat Hicksâs shop, bearing the not very romantic burden of a pair of her husbandâs trousers. Hicks was in the back room. She faced the Greek god who, in a somewhat ungodlike way, was stitching a coat on a scaley sewing-machine, in a room of smutted plaster walls.
She saw that his hands were not in keeping with a Hellenic face. They were thick, roughened with needle and hot iron and plow-handle. Even in the shop he persisted in his finery. He wore a silk shirt, a topaz scarf, thin tan shoes.
This she absorbed while she was saying curtly, âCan I get these pressed, please?â
Not rising from the sewing-machine he stuck out his hand, mumbled, âWhen do you want them?â
âOh, Monday.â
The adventure was over. She was marching out.
âWhat name?â he called after her.
He had risen and, despite the farcicality of Dr. Will Kennicottâs bulgy trousers draped over his arm, he had the grace of a cat.
âKennicott.â
âKennicott. Oh! Oh say, youâre Mrs. Dr. Kennicott then, arenât you?â
âYes.â She stood at the door. Now that she had carried out her preposterous impulse to see what he was like, she was cold, she was as ready to detect familiarities as the virtuous Miss Ella Stowbody.
âIâve heard about you. Myrtle Cass was saying you got up a dramatic club and gave a dandy play. Iâve always wished I had a chance to belong to a Little Theater, and give some European plays, or whimsical like Barrie, or a pageant.â
He pronounced it âpagentâ; he rhymed âpagâ with ârag.â
Carol nodded in the manner of a lady being kind to a tradesman, and one of her selves sneered, âOur Erik is indeed a lost John Keats.â
He was appealing, âDo you suppose it would be possible to get up another dramatic club this coming fall?â
âWell, it might be worth thinking of.â She came out of her several conflicting poses, and said sincerely, âThereâs a new teacher, Miss Mullins, who might have some talent. That would make three of us for a nucleus. If we could scrape up half a dozen we might give a real play with a small cast. Have you had any experience?â
âJust a bum club that some of us got up in Minneapolis when I was working there. We had one good man, an interior decoratorâ âmaybe he was kind of sis and effeminate, but he really was an artist, and we gave one dandy play. But Iâ âOf course Iâve always had to work hard, and study by myself, and Iâm probably sloppy, and Iâd love it if I had training in rehearsingâ âI mean, the crankier the director was, the better Iâd like it. If you didnât want to use me as an actor, Iâd love to design the costumes. Iâm crazy about fabricsâ âtextures and colors and designs.â
She knew that he was trying to keep her from going, trying to indicate that he was something more than a person to whom one brought trousers for pressing. He besought:
âSome day I hope I can get away from this fool repairing, when I have the money saved up. I want to go East and work for some big dressmaker, and study art drawing, and become a high-class designer. Or do you think thatâs a kind of fiddlinâ ambition for a fellow? I was brought up on a farm. And then monkeyinâ round with silks! I donât know. What do you think? Myrtle Cass says youâre awfully educated.â
âI am. Awfully. Tell me: Have the boys made fun of your ambition?â
She was seventy years old, and sexless, and more advisory than Vida Sherwin.
âWell, they have, at that. Theyâve jollied me a good deal, here and Minneapolis both. They say dressmaking is ladiesâ work. (But I was willing to get drafted for the war! I tried to get in. But they rejected me. But I did try! ) I thought some of working up in a gentsâ furnishings store, and I had a chance to travel on the road for a clothing house, but somehowâ âI hate this tailoring, but I canât seem to get enthusiastic about salesmanship. I keep thinking about a room in gray oatmeal paper with prints in very narrow gold framesâ âor would it be better in white enamel paneling?â âbut anyway, it looks out on Fifth Avenue, and Iâm designing a sumptuousâ ââ He made it âsump-too-ousââ âârobe of linden green chiffon over cloth of gold! You knowâ âtilleul. Itâs elegant.â ââ ⊠What do you think?â
âWhy not? What do you care for the opinion of city rowdies, or a lot of farm boys? But you mustnât, you really mustnât, let casual strangers like me have a chance to judge you.â
âWellâ âYou arenât a stranger, one way. Myrtle Cassâ âMiss Cass, should sayâ âsheâs spoken about you so often. I wanted to call on youâ âand the doctorâ âbut I didnât quite have the nerve. One evening I walked past your house, but you and your husband were talking on the porch, and you looked so chummy and happy I didnât dare butt in.â
Maternally, âI think itâs extremely nice of you to want to be trained inâ âin enunciation by a stage-director. Perhaps I could help you. Iâm a thoroughly sound and uninspired schoolmaâam by instinct; quite hopelessly mature.â
âOh, you arenât either!â
She was not very successful at accepting his fervor with the air of amused woman of the world, but she sounded reasonably impersonal: âThank you. Shall we see if we really can get up a new
Comments (0)