FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53  
54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   >>   >|  
agreeable and unusual. A silence then unexpectedly ensued and the formality fell colder than ever upon us. The custodian's departure had left us alone, looking at each other across all the unexpressed knowledge that each knew the other had. Mayrant had come impulsively back to me from his aunts, without stopping to think that we had never yet exchanged a word; both of us were now brought up short, and it was the cake that was speaking volubly in our self-conscious dumbness. It was only after this brief, deep gap of things unsaid that John Mayrant came to the surface again, and began a conversation of which, on both our parts, the first few steps were taken on the tiptoes of an archaic politeness; we trod convention like a polished French floor; you might have expected us, after such deliberate and graceful preliminaries, to dance a verbal minuet. We, however, danced something quite different, and that conversation lasted during many days, and led us, like a road, up hill and down dale to a perfect acquaintance. No, not perfect, but delightful; to the end he never spoke to me of the matter most near him, and I but honor him the more for his reticence. Of course his first remark had to be about Kings Port and me; had he understood rightly that this was my first visit? My answer was equally traditional. It was, next, correct that he should allude to the weather; and his reference was one of the two or three that it seems a stranger's destiny always to hear in a place new to him: he apologized for the weather--so cold a season had not, in his memory, been experienced in Kings Port; it was to the highest point exceptional. I exclaimed that it had been, to my Northern notions, delightfully mild for March. "Indeed," I continued, "I have always said that if March could be cut out of our Northern climate, as the core is cut out of an apple, I should be quite satisfied with eleven months, instead of twelve. I think it might prolong one's youth." The fire of that season lighted in his eyes, but he still stepped upon polished convention. He assured me that the Southern September hurricane was more deplorable than any Northern March could be. "Our zone should be called the Intemperate zone," said he. "But never in Kings Port," I protested; "with your roses out-of-doors--and your ladies indoors!" He bowed. "You pay us a high compliment." I smiled urbanely. "If the truth is a compliment!" "Our young ladies are
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53  
54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Northern

 

polished

 

weather

 

perfect

 

season

 
convention
 

conversation

 

Mayrant

 

ladies

 

compliment


indoors
 

stranger

 

apologized

 

reference

 

destiny

 

answer

 

equally

 
rightly
 

smiled

 

traditional


allude

 

urbanely

 

understood

 

correct

 

experienced

 

assured

 
satisfied
 
September
 

Southern

 
climate

stepped

 

eleven

 

prolong

 
lighted
 

twelve

 

months

 

hurricane

 

exceptional

 
highest
 

memory


protested

 

exclaimed

 

Intemperate

 

continued

 

deplorable

 

Indeed

 
called
 
notions
 

delightfully

 

brought