The Project Gutenberg EBook of April Hopes, by William Dean Howells

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Title: April Hopes

Author: William Dean Howells

Last Updated: February 27, 2009
Release Date: September 1, 2006 [EBook #3404]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APRIL HOPES ***

Produced by David Widger and Pat Castevens

APRIL HOPES

1887

by William Dean Howells

I.

From his place on the floor of the Hemenway Gymnasium Mr. Elbridge G.
Mavering looked on at the Class Day gaiety with the advantage which his
stature, gave him over most people there. Hundreds of these were pretty
girls, in a great variety of charming costumes, such as the eclecticism
of modern fashion permits, and all sorts of ingenious compromises
between walking dress and ball dress. It struck him that the young men
on whose arms they hung, in promenading around the long oval within the
crowd of stationary spectators, were very much younger than students
used to be, whether they wore the dress-coats of the Seniors or the
cut-away of the Juniors and Sophomores; and the young girls themselves
did not look so old as he remembered them in his day. There was a band
playing somewhere, and the galleries were well filled with spectators
seated at their ease, and intent on the party-coloured turmoil of the
floor, where from time to time the younger promenaders broke away from
the ranks into a waltz, and after some turns drifted back, smiling and
controlling their quick breath, and resumed their promenade. The
place was intensely light, in the candour of a summer day which had no
reserves; and the brilliancy was not broken by the simple decorations.
Ropes of wild laurel twisted up the pine posts of the aisles, and swung
in festoons overhead; masses of tropical plants in pots were set along
between the posts on one side of the room; and on the other were the
lunch tables, where a great many people were standing about, eating
chicken and salmon salads, or strawberries and ice-cream, and drinking
claret-cup. From the whole rose that blended odour of viands, of
flowers, of stuff's, of toilet perfumes, which is the characteristic
expression of, all social fe