The Turmoil Booth Tarkington (best reads .txt) đ
- Author: Booth Tarkington
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Mary jumped. âMr. Sheridan!â she exclaimed.
He sighed profoundly. âThere! I noticed you were gettinâ mad. I didnâtâ ââ
âNo, no, no!â she cried. âBut I donât understandâ âand I think you donât. What is it you want me to do?â
He sighed again, but this time with relief. âWell, well!â he said. âYouâre right. Itâll be easier to talk plain. I ought to known I could with you, all the time. I just hoped youâd let that boy come and see you sometimes, once more. Could you?â
âYou donât understand.â She clasped her hands together in a sorrowful gesture. âYes, we must talk plain. Bibbs heard that Iâd tried to make your oldest son care for me because I was poor, and so Bibbs came and asked me to marry himâ âbecause he was sorry for me. And I canât see him any more,â she cried in distress. âI canât!â
Sheridan cleared his throat uncomfortably. âYou mean because he thought that about you?â
âNo, no! What he thought was true!â
âWellâ âyou mean he was so much inâ âyou mean he thought so much of youâ ââ The words were inconceivably awkward upon Sheridanâs tongue; he seemed to be in doubt even about pronouncing them, but after a ghastly pause he bravely repeated them. âYou mean he thought so much of you that you just couldnât stand him around?â
âNo! He was sorry for me. He cared for me; he was fond of me; and heâd respected meâ âtoo much! In the finest way he loved me, if you like, and heâd have done anything on earth for me, as I would for him, and as he knew I would. It was beautiful, Mr. Sheridan,â she said. âBut the cheap, bad things one has done seem always to come backâ âthey wait, and pull you down when youâre happiest. Bibbs found me out, you see; and he wasnât âin loveâ with me at all.â
âHe wasnât? Well, it seems to me he gave up everything he wanted to doâ âit was fool stuff, but he certainly wanted it mighty badâ âhe just threw it away and walked right up and took the job he swore he never wouldâ âjust for you. And it looks to me as if a man thatâd do that must think quite a heap oâ the girl he does it for! You say it was only because he was sorry, but let me tell you thereâs only one girl he could feel that sorry for! Yes, sir!â
âNo, no,â she said. âBibbs isnât like other menâ âhe would do anything for anybody.â
Sheridan grinned. âPerhaps not so much as you think, nowadays,â he said. âFor instance, I got kind of a suspicion he doesnât believe in sentiment in business. But thatâs neither here nor there. What he wanted was, just plain and simple, for you to marry him. Well, I was afraid his thinkinâ so much of you had kind oâ sickened you of himâ âthe way it does sometimes. But from the way you talk, I understand that ainât the trouble.â He coughed, and his voice trembled a little. âNow here, Miss Vertrees, I donât have to tell youâ âbecause you see things easyâ âI know I got no business cominâ to you like this, but I had to make Bibbs go my way instead of his ownâ âI had to do it for the sake oâ my business and on his own account, tooâ âand I expect you got some idea how it hurt him to give up. Well, heâs made good. He didnât come in halfhearted or mean; he came inâ âall the way! But there isnât anything in it to him; you can see heâs just shut his teeth on it and goinâ ahead with dust in his mouth. You see, one way of lookinâ at it, heâs got nothinâ to work for. And it seems to me like it cost him your friendship, and I believeâ âhonestâ âthatâs what hurt him the worst. Now you said weâd talk plain. Why canât you let him come back?â
She covered her face desperately with her hands. âI canât!â
He rose, defeated, and looking it.
âWell, I mustnât press you,â he said, gently.
At that she cried out, and dropped her hands and let him see her face. âAh! He was only sorry for me!â
He gazed at her intently. Mary was proud, but she had a fatal honesty, and it confessed the truth of her now; she was helpless. It was so clear that even Sheridan, marveling and amazed, was able to see it. Then a change came over him; gloom fell from him, and he grew radiant.
âDonât! Donâtâ she cried. âYou mustnâtâ ââ
âI wonât tell him,â said Sheridan, from the doorway. âI wonât tell anybody anything!â
XXXIIIThere was a heavy town-fog that afternoon, a smoke-mist, densest in the sanctuary of the temple. The people went about in it, busy and dirty, thickening their outside and inside linings of coal-tar, asphalt, sulphurous acid, oil of vitriol, and the other familiar things the men liked to breathe and to have upon their skins and garments and upon their wives and babies and sweethearts. The growth of the city was visible in the smoke and the noise and the rush. There was more smoke than there had been this day of February a year earlier; there was more noise; and the crowds were thickerâ âyet quicker in spite of that. The traffic policeman had a hard time, for the people were independentâ âthey retained some
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