National Avenue Booth Tarkington (best e reader for academics .txt) đ
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- Author: Booth Tarkington
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âBut I havenât told youâ ââ
Again she disregarded him. âI know these New York highty-tighties!â she said. âYour grandfather and I went to Saratoga the year after the war, and we spent a month there. We saw a plenty of âem! They arenât fit to do anything but flirt and talk French and go to soirĂ©es. Theyâre the most ignorant people I ever met in my life. Theyâre so ignorant if you asked their opinion of Lalla Rookh they wouldnât know what you were talking about; but they think youâre funny if you donât know that some fancy milliner of theirs keeps store on Broadway and not on the Bowery. Thatâs about the measure of âem.â
âWell, not nowadays, exactly,â her grandson said indulgently. âSome of the ones you saw at Saratoga thirty or forty years ago may have been like that, grandma, but nowadaysâ ââ
âNowadays,â she said, taking the word up sharply, âtheyâre just the same. They fooled the young men then just the same as they fool âem now. They make a young man like you think they know everything, because theyâre pretty and talk that affected way Harlan does.â
âBut with them it isnât affected, grandma. Itâs natural with them. Theyâve alwaysâ ââ
But the obdurate old lady contradicted him instantly. âItâs not! It isnât natural for any human being to talk like that! You mustnât bring one of those girls out here to live, Dan.â
âGrandmaââ âhe began in an uneasy voice; âGrandma, I came here to tell youâ ââ
âYes, I was afraid of it,â she said. âI was afraid of it.â
âAfraid of what?â
A plaintive frown appeared upon her forehead before she answered. She sighed deeply, as if the increased rapidity of her breathing had made her insecure of continuing to breathe at all; and her frail hands, folded in her lap, moved nervously. âDonât do it, Dan,â she said. âYou ought to wait a few years before you marry, anyway. Youâre so young, and one of those New York girls wouldnât understand things here; she wouldnât know enough not to feel superior. Youâd just make misery for yourself.â
But at this he laughed confidently. âYou donât know the one Iâm thinkinâ of,â he said. âYouâve guessed something of what I came to tell you, grandma, but youâve certainly missed fire about her! Iâll show you.â And from his breast pocket he took an exquisite flat case of blue leather and silver; opened it, and handed it to her. âThereâs her photograph. Iâd like to see if you think sheâs the kind youâve been talkinâ about!â
Mrs. Savage put on the eyeglasses she wore fastened to a thin chain round her neck, and examined the photograph of Lena McMillan. She looked at it steadily for a long minute, then handed it back to her grandson, removed her glasses, and, without a word, again folding her hands in her lap, looked out of the window.
Under these discomfiting circumstances Dan said, as hopefully as he could, âYouâve changed your mind now, havenât you, grandma?â
âOn account of that picture?â she asked, without altering her attitude.
âYes. Donât you think sheâsâ âdonât you think sheâsâ ââ
âDonât I think sheâs what?â Mrs. Savage inquired in a dead voice.
âDonât you think sheâs perfect?â
âPerfect?â Expressionlessly, she turned and looked at him. âWhat are your plans, Dan?â
âYou mean, when do we expect toâ ââ
âNo. What business are you going into?â
âWellâ ââ He paused doubtfully; âI still hopeâ âI mean, if I donât have to go to New York to liveâ ââ
âSo?â she interrupted with seeming placidity. âShe declines to come here to live, does she? She hates it here, does she, already?â
âI donât think she would,â he said quickly. âNot if she once got used to it. You see she doesnât know anything about it; sheâs never been west of Rochester, and she only thinks she wouldnât like it. Iâve been doinâ my best to persuade her.â
âBut you couldnât?â
âOh, I havenât given up,â he said. âI think when the time comesâ ââ
âBut if she wonât, âwhen the time comes,âââ Mrs. Savage suggested;â ââthen instead of living here, where youâve grown up and want to live, youâll go and spend your life in New York. Is that it?â
âWell, Iâ ââ
âSo youâd do it,â she said, âjust to please the face in that photograph!â
âYou donât understand, grandma,â he returned, and he hurriedly passed a handkerchief across his distressed forehead. âYou see, it isnât only Lena herself donât think much of our part of the country. You see, her familyâ ââ
âAh!â the grim lady interrupted. âSheâs got a family, has she? Indeed?â
âGreat goodness!â he groaned, âI mean her father and mother and her sister and her aunts and her married sister, and everybody. Theyâre important people, you see.â
âAre they? What do they do thatâs important?â
âIt isnât so much what they do exactly,â he explained, âitâs what they are. You see, theyâre descended from General McMillan andâ ââ
âGeneral McMillan? Never heard of him. What
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