This Side of Paradise F. Scott Fitzgerald (mini ebook reader .txt) đ
- Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Boys who passed the door looked in enviouslyâ âgirls who passed only laughed and frowned and grew wise within themselves.
They had now reached a very definite stage. They had traded accounts of their progress since they had met last, and she had listened to much she had heard before. He was a sophomore, was on the Princetonian board, hoped to be chairman in senior year. He learned that some of the boys she went with in Baltimore were âterrible speedsâ and came to dances in states of artificial stimulation; most of them were twenty or so, and drove alluring red Stutzes. A good half seemed to have already flunked out of various schools and colleges, but some of them bore athletic names that made him look at her admiringly. As a matter of fact, Isabelleâs closer acquaintance with the universities was just commencing. She had bowing acquaintance with a lot of young men who thought she was a âpretty kidâ âworth keeping an eye on.â But Isabelle strung the names into a fabrication of gayety that would have dazzled a Viennese nobleman. Such is the power of young contralto voices on sink-down sofas.
He asked her if she thought he was conceited. She said there was a difference between conceit and self-confidence. She adored self-confidence in men.
âIs Froggy a good friend of yours?â she asked.
âRatherâ âwhy?â
âHeâs a bum dancer.â
Amory laughed.
âHe dances as if the girl were on his back instead of in his arms.â
She appreciated this.
âYouâre awfully good at sizing people up.â
Amory denied this painfully. However, he sized up several people for her. Then they talked about hands.
âYouâve got awfully nice hands,â she said. âThey look as if you played the piano. Do you?â
I have said they had reached a very definite stageâ ânay, more, a very critical stage. Amory had stayed over a day to see her, and his train left at twelve-eighteen that night. His trunk and suitcase awaited him at the station; his watch was beginning to hang heavy in his pocket.
âIsabelle,â he said suddenly, âI want to tell you something.â They had been talking lightly about âthat funny look in her eyes,â and Isabelle knew from the change in his manner what was comingâ âindeed, she had been wondering how soon it would come. Amory reached above their heads and turned out the electric light, so that they were in the dark, except for the red glow that fell through the door from the reading-room lamps. Then he began:
âI donât know whether or not you know what youâ âwhat Iâm going to say. Lordy, Isabelleâ âthis sounds like a line, but it isnât.â
âI know,â said Isabelle softly.
âMaybe weâll never meet again like thisâ âI have darned hard luck sometimes.â He was leaning away from her on the other arm of the lounge, but she could see his eyes plainly in the dark.
âYouâll meet me againâ âsilly.â There was just the slightest emphasis on the last wordâ âso that it became almost a term of endearment. He continued a bit huskily:
âIâve fallen for a lot of peopleâ âgirlsâ âand I guess you have, tooâ âboys, I mean, but, honestly, youâ ââ he broke off suddenly and leaned forward, chin on his hands: âOh, whatâs the useâ âyouâll go your way and I suppose Iâll go mine.â
Silence for a moment. Isabelle was quite stirred; she wound her handkerchief into a tight ball, and by the faint light that streamed over her, dropped it deliberately on the floor. Their hands touched for an instant, but neither spoke. Silences were becoming more frequent and more delicious. Outside another stray couple had come up and were experimenting on the piano in the next room. After the usual preliminary of âchopsticks,â one of them started âBabes in the Woodsâ and a light tenor carried the words into the den:
âGive me your handâ ââ
Iâll understand
Weâre off to slumberland.â
Isabelle hummed it softly and trembled as she felt Amoryâs hand close over hers.
âIsabelle,â he whispered. âYou know Iâm mad about you. You do give a darn about me.â
âYes.â
âHow much do you careâ âdo you like anyone better?â
âNo.â He could scarcely hear her, although he bent so near that he felt her breath against his cheek.
âIsabelle, Iâm going back to college for six long months, and why shouldnât weâ âif I could only just have one thing to remember you byâ ââ
âClose the door.â ââ âŠâ Her voice had just stirred so that he half wondered whether she had spoken at all. As he swung the door softly shut, the music seemed quivering just outside.
âMoonlight is bright,
Kiss me good night.â
What a wonderful song, she thoughtâ âeverything was wonderful tonight, most of all this romantic scene in the den, with their hands clinging and the inevitable looming charmingly close. The future vista of her life seemed an unending succession of scenes like this: under moonlight and pale starlight, and in the backs of warm limousines and in low, cosy roadsters stopped under sheltering treesâ âonly the boy might change, and this one was so nice. He took her hand softly. With a sudden movement he turned it and, holding it to his lips, kissed the palm.
âIsabelle!â His whisper blended in the music, and they seemed to float nearer together. Her breath came faster. âCanât I kiss you, Isabelleâ âIsabelle?â Lips half parted, she turned her head to him in the dark. Suddenly the ring of voices, the sound of running footsteps surged toward them. Quick as a flash Amory reached up and turned on the light, and when the door opened and three boys, the wrathy and dance-craving Froggy among them, rushed in, he was turning over the magazines on the table, while she sat without moving, serene and unembarrassed, and even greeted them with a welcoming smile. But her heart was beating wildly, and she felt somehow as if she had been deprived.
It was evidently over. There was a clamor for a dance, there was a glance that passed between themâ âon
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