Something New by Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (rom com books to read .TXT) 📖
- Author: Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
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Premature Suggestion Of Midsummer.
Aline Peters Was Sitting At The Open Window Of Her Bedroom, Which
Commanded An Extensive View Of The Terraces. A Pile Of Letters
Lay On The Table Beside Her, For She Had Just Finished Reading
Her Mail. The Postman Came Late To The Castle On Sundays And She
Had Not Been Able To Do This Until Luncheon Was Over.
Aline Was Puzzled. She Was Conscious Of A Fit Of Depression For
Which She Could In No Way Account. She Had A Feeling That All Was
Not Well With The World, Which Was The More Remarkable In That
She Was Usually Keenly Susceptible To Weather Conditions And
Reveled In Sunshine Like A Kitten. Yet Here Was A Day Nearly As
Fine As An American Day--And She Found No Solace In It.
She Looked Down On The Terrace; As She Looked The Figure Of
George Emerson Appeared, Walking Swiftly. And At The Sight Of Him
Something Seemed To Tell Her That She Had Found The Key To Her
Gloom.
There Are Many Kinds Of Walk. George Emerson's Was The Walk Of
Mental Unrest. His Hands Were Clasped Behind His Back, His Eyes
Stared Straight In Front Of Him From Beneath Lowering Brows, And
Between His Teeth Was An Unlighted Cigar. No Man Who Is Not A
Professional Politician Holds An Unlighted Cigar In His Mouth
Unless He Wishes To Irritate And Baffle A Ticket Chopper In The
Subway, Or Because Unpleasant Meditations Have Caused Him To
Forget He Has It There. Plainly, Then, All Was Not Well With
George Emerson.
Aline Had Suspected As Much At Luncheon; And Looking Back She
Realized That It Was At Luncheon Her Depression Had Begun. The
Chapter 11 Pg 168Discovery Startled Her A Little. She Had Not Been Aware, Or She
Had Refused To Admit To Herself, That George's Troubles Bulked So
Large On Her Horizon. She Had Always Told Herself That She Liked
George, That George Was A Dear Old Friend, That George Amused And
Stimulated Her; But She Would Have Denied She Was So Wrapped Up
In George That The Sight Of Him In Trouble Would Be Enough To
Spoil For Her The Finest Day She Had Seen Since She Left America.
There Was Something Not Only Startling But Shocking In The
Thought; For She Was Honest Enough With Herself To Recognize That
Freddie, Her Official Loved One, Might Have Paced The Grounds Of
The Castle Chewing An Unlighted Cigar By The Hour Without
Stirring Any Emotion In Her At All.
And She Was To Marry Freddie Next Month! This Was Surely A Matter
That Called For Thought. She Proceeded, Gazing Down The While At
The Perambulating George, To Give It Thought.
Aline's Was Not A Deep Nature. She Had Never Pretended To Herself
That She Loved The Honorable Freddie In The Sense In Which The
Word Is Used In Books. She Liked Him And She Liked The Idea Of
Being Connected With The Peerage; Her Father Liked The Idea And
She Liked Her Father. And The Combination Of These Likings Had
Caused Her To Reply "Yes" When, Last Autumn, Freddie, Swelling
Himself Out Like An Embarrassed Frog And Gulping, Had Uttered
That Memorable Speech Beginning, "I Say, You Know, It's Like
This, Don't You Know!"--And Ending, "What I Mean Is, Will You
Marry Me--What?"
She Had Looked Forward To Being Placidly Happy As The Honorable
Mrs. Frederick Threepwood. And Then George Emerson Had Reappeared
In Her Life, A Disturbing Element.
Until To-Day She Would Have Resented The Suggestion That She Was
In Love With George. She Liked To Be With Him, Partly Because He
Was So Easy To Talk To, And Partly Because It Was Exciting To Be
Continually Resisting The Will Power He Made No Secret Of Trying
To Exercise. But To-Day There Was A Difference. She Had Suspected
It At Luncheon And She Realized It Now. As She Looked Down At Him
From Behind The Curtain, And Marked His Air Of Gloom, She Could
No Longer Disguise It From Herself.
She Felt Maternal--Horribly Maternal. George Was In Trouble And
She Wanted To Comfort Him.
Freddie, Too, Was In Trouble. But Did She Want To Comfort
Freddie? No. On The Contrary, She Was Already Regretting Her
Promise, So Lightly Given Before Luncheon, To Go And Sit With Him
That Afternoon. A Well-Marked Feeling Of Annoyance That He Should
Have Been So Silly As To Tumble Downstairs And Sprain His Ankle
Was Her Chief Sentiment Respecting Freddie.
George Emerson Continued To Perambulate And Aline Continued To
Watch Him. At Last She Could Endure It No Longer. She Gathered Up
Chapter 11 Pg 169Her Letters, Stacked Them In A Corner Of The Dressing-Table And
Left The Room. George Had Reached The End Of The Terrace And
Turned When She Began To Descend The Stone Steps Outside The
Front Door. He Quickened His Pace As He Caught Sight Of Her. He
Halted Before Her And Surveyed Her Morosely.
"I Have Been Looking For You," He Said.
"And Here I Am. Cheer Up, George! Whatever Is The Matter? I've
Been Sitting In My Room Looking At You, And You Have Been Simply
Prowling. What Has Gone Wrong?"
"Everything!"
"How Do You Mean--Everything?"
"Exactly What I Say. I'm Done For. Read This."
Aline Took The Yellow Slip Of Paper. "A Cable," Added George. "I
Got It This Morning--Mailed On From My Rooms In London. Read It."
"I'm Trying To. It Doesn't Seem To Make Sense."
George Laughed Grimly.
"It Makes Sense All Right."
"I Don't See How You Can Say That. 'Meredith Elephant
Kangaroo--?'"
"Office Cipher; I Was Forgetting. 'Elephant' Means 'Seriously Ill
And Unable To Attend To Duty.' Meredith Is One Of The Partners In
My Firm In New York."
"Oh, I'm So Sorry! Do You Think He Is Very Sick? Are You Very
Fond Of Mr. Meredith?"
"Meredith Is A Good Fellow And I Like Him; But If It Was Simply A
Matter Of His Being Ill I'm Afraid I Could Manage To Bear Up
Under The News. Unfortunately 'Kangaroo' Means 'Return, Without
Fail, By The Next Boat.'"
"You Must Return By The Next Boat?" Aline Looked At Him, In Her
Eyes A Slow-Growing Comprehension Of The Situation. "Oh!" She
Said At Length.
"I Put It Stronger Than That," Said George.
"But--The Next Boat---- That Means On Wednesday."
"Wednesday Morning, From Southampton. I Shall Have To Leave Here
To-Morrow."
Aline's Eyes Were Fixed On The Blue Hills Across The Valley, But
Chapter 11 Pg 170She Did Not See Them. There Was A Mist Between. She Was Feeling
Crushed And Ill-Treated And Lonely. It Was As Though George Was
Already Gone And She Left Alone In An Alien Land.
"But, George!" She Said; She Could Find No Other Words For Her
Protest Against The Inevitable.
"It's Bad Luck," Said Emerson Quietly; "But I Shouldn't Wonder If
It Is Not The Best Thing That Really Could Have Happened. It
Finishes Me Cleanly, Instead Of Letting Me Drag On And Make Both
Of Us Miserable. If This Cable Hadn't Come I Suppose I Should
Have Gone On Bothering You Up To The Day Of Your Wedding. I
Should Have Fancied, To The Last Moment, That There Was A Chance
For Me; But This Ends Me With One Punch.
"Even I Haven't The Nerve To Imagine That I Can Work A Miracle In
The Few Hours Before The Train Leaves To-Morrow. I Must Just Make
The Best Of It. If We Ever Meet Again--And I Don't See Why We
Should--You Will Be Married. My Particular Brand Of Mental
Suggestion Doesn't Work At Long Range. I Shan't Hope To Influence
You By Telepathy."
He Leaned On The Balustrade At Her Side And Spoke In A Low, Level
Voice.
"This Thing," He Said, "Coming As A Shock, Coming Out Of The Blue
Sky Without Warning--Meredith Is The Last Man In The World You
Would Expect To Crack Up; He Looked As Fit As A Dray Horse The
Last Time I Saw Him--Somehow Seems To Have Hammered A Certain
Amount Of Sense Into Me. Odd It Never Struck Me Before; But I
Suppose I Have Been About The Most Bumptious, Conceited Fool That
Ever Happened.
"Why I Should Have Imagined That There Was A Sort Of Irresistible
Fascination In Me, Which Was Bound To Make You Break Off Your
Engagement And Upset The Whole Universe Simply To Win The
Wonderful Reward Of Marrying Me, Is More Than I Can Understand. I
Suppose It Takes A Shock To Make A Fellow See Exactly What He
Really Amounts To. I Couldn't Think Any More Of You Than I Do;
But, If I Could, The Way You Have Put Up With My Mouthing And
Swaggering And Posing As A Sort Of Superman, Would Make Me Do It.
You Have Been Wonderful!"
Aline Could Not Speak. She Felt As Though Her Whole World Had
Been Turned Upside Down In The Last Quarter Of An Hour. This Was
A New George Emerson, A George At Whom It Was Impossible To
Laugh, But An Insidiously Attractive George. Her Heart Beat
Quickly. Her Mind Was Not Clear; But Dimly She Realized That He
Had Pulled Down Her Chief Barrier Of Defense And That She Was
More Open To Attack Than She Had Ever Been. Obstinacy, The
Automatic Desire To Resist The Pressure Of A Will That Attempted
To Overcome Her Own, Had Kept Her Cool And Level-Headed In The
Past. With Masterfulness She Had Been Able To Cope. Humility Was
Another Thing Altogether.
Chapter 11 Pg 171
Soft-Heartedness Was Aline's Weakness. She Had Never Clearly
Recognized It, But It Had Been Partly Pity That Had Induced Her
To Accept Freddie; He Had Seemed So Downtrodden And Sorry For
Himself During Those Autumn Days When They Had First Met.
Prudence Warned Her That Strange Things Might Happen If Once She
Allowed Herself To Pity George Emerson.
The Silence Lengthened. Aline Could Find Nothing To Say. In Her
Present
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