The Plastic Age, Percy Marks [top 10 books of all time TXT] 📗
- Author: Percy Marks
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Try To Stop Her?"
Norry Smiled. "Of Course Not. Can You Imagine Me Stopping Cynthia From
Doing Anything She Wanted To Do? But I Did Have A Talk With Her. She Got
Hold Of Me One Night At The Country Club And Pulled Me Off In A Corner.
She Wanted To Talk About You."
"Me?" Hugh's Heart Was Beginning To Pound. "What Did She Say?"
"She Asked Questions. She Wanted To Know Everything About You. I Guess
She Asked Me A Thousand Questions. She Wanted To Know How You Looked,
How You Were Doing In Your Courses, Where You Were During Vacation, If
You Had A Girl--Oh, Everything; And Finally She Asked If You Ever Talked
About Her?"
"What Did You Say?" Hugh Demanded Breathlessly.
"I Told Her Yes, Of Course. Gee, Hugh, I Thought She Was Going To Cry.
We Talked Some More, All About You. She's Crazy About You, Hugh; I'm
Sure Of It. And I Think That's Why She's Been Hitting The High Spots. I
Felt Sorry As The Devil For Her. Poor Kid...."
"Gee, That's Tough; That's Damn Tough. Did She Send Me Any Message?"
"No. I Asked Her If She Wanted To Send Her Love Or Anything, And She
Said She Guessed Not. I Think She's Having An Awful Time, Hugh."
That Talk Tore Hugh's Peace Of Mind Into Quivering Shreds. Cynthia Was
With Him Every Waking Minute, And With Her A Sense Of Guilt That Would
Not Down. He Knew That If He Wrote To Her He Might Involve Himself In A
Very Difficult Situation, But The Temptation Was Stronger Than His
Discretion. He Wanted To Know If Norry Was Right, And He Knew That He
Would Never Have An Hour's Real Comfort Until He Found Out. Cynthia Had
Told Him That She Was Not In Love With Him; She Had Said Definitely
That Their Attraction For Each Other Was Merely Sexual. Had She Lied To
Him? Had She Gone Home In The Middle Of Prom, Week Because She Thought
She Ought To Save Him From Herself? He Couldn't Decide, And He Felt That
He Had To Know. If Cynthia Was Unhappy And He Was The Cause Of Her
Unhappiness, He Wanted, He Assured Himself, To "Do The Right Thing," And
He Had Very Vague Notions Indeed Of What The Right Thing Might Be.
Finally He Wrote To Her. The Letter Took Him Hours To Write, But He
Flattered Himself That It Was Very Discreet; It Implied Nothing And
Demanded Nothing.
Dear Cynthia:
I Had A Talk With Norry Parker Recently That Has
Troubled Me A Great Deal. He Said That You Seemed Both
Unwell And Unhappy, And He Felt That I Was In Some Way
Responsible For Your Depression. Of Course, We Both Know
How Ingenuous And Romantic Norry Is; He Can Find Tragedy
In A Cut Finger. I Recognize That Fact, But What He Told
Me Has Given Me No End Of Worry Just The Same.
Won't You Please Write To Me Just What Is Wrong--If
Anything Really Is And If I Have Anything To Do With It.
I Shall Continue To Worry Until I Get Your Letter.
Most Sincerely,
Hugh.
Weeks Went By And No Answer Came. Hugh's Confusion Increased. He
Thought Of Writing Her Another Letter, But Pride And Common Sense
Forbade. Then Her Letter Came, And All Of His Props Were Kicked Suddenly
From Under Him.
Oh My Dear, My Dear [She Wrote], I Swore That I Wouldn't
Answer Your Letter--And Here I Am Doing It. I've Fought
And Fought, And Fought Until I Can't Fight Any Longer;
I've Held Out As Long As I Can. Oh, Hugh My Dearest, I
Love You. I Can't Help It--I Do, I Do. I've Tried So
Hard Not To--And When I Found That I Couldn't Help It I
Swore That I Would Never Let You Know--Because I Knew
That You Didn't Love Me And That I Am Bad For You. I
Thought I Loved You Enough To Give You Up--And I Might
Have Succeeded If You Hadn't Written To Me.
Oh, Hugh Dearest, I Nearly Fainted When I Saw Your
Letter. I Hardly Dared Open It--I Just Looked And Looked
At Your Beloved Handwriting. I Cried When I Did Read It.
I Thought Of The Letters You Used To Write To Me--And
This One Was So Different--So Cold And Impersonal. It
Hurt Me Dreadfully.
I Said That I Wouldn't Answer It--I Swore That I
Wouldn't. And Then I Read Your Old Letters--I've Kept
Every One Of Them--And Looked At Your Picture--And
To-Night You Just Seemed To Be Here--I Could See Your
Sweet Smile And Feel Your Dear Arms Around Me--And Hugh,
My Darling, I Had To Write--I _Had_ To.
My Pride Is All Gone. I Can't Think Any More. You Are
All That Matters. Oh, Hugh Dearest, I Love You So Damned
Hard.
Cynthia.
Two Hours After The Letter Arrived It Was Followed By A Telegram:
Don't Pay Any Attention To My Letter. I Was Crazy When I
Wrote It.
Hugh Had Sense Enough To Pay No Attention To The Telegram; He Tossed It
Into The Fireplace And Reread The Letter. What Could He Do? What
_Should_ He Do? He Was Torn By Doubt And Confusion. He Looked At Her
Picture, And All His Old Longing For Her Returned. But He Had Learned To
Distrust That Longing. He Had Got Along For A Year Without Her; He Had
Almost Ceased Thinking Of Her When Norry Brought Her Back To His Mind.
He Had To Answer Her Letter. What Could He Say? He Paced The Floor Of
His Room, Ran His Hands Through His Hair, Pounded His Forehead; But No
Solution Came. He Took A Long Walk Into The Country And Came Back More
Confused Than Ever. He Was Flattered By Her Letter, Moved By It; He
Tried To Persuade Himself That He Loved Her As She Loved Him--And He
Could Not Do It. His Passion For Her Was No Longer Overpowering, And No
Amount Of Thinking Could Make It So. In The End He Temporized. His
Letter Was Brief.
Dear Cynthia:
There Is No Need, I Guess, To Tell You That Your Letter
Swept Me Clean Off My Feet. I Am Still Dizzy With
Confusion. I Don't Know What To Say, And I Have Decided
That It Is Best For Me Not To Say Anything Until I Know
My Own Mind. I Couldn't Be Fair Either To You Or Myself
Otherwise. And I Want To Be Fair; I Must Be.
Give Me Time, Please. It Is Because I Care So Much For
You That I Ask It. Don't Worry If You Don't Hear From Me
For Weeks. My Silence Won't Mean That I Have Forgotten
You; It Will Mean That I Am Thinking Of You.
Sincerely,
Hugh.
Her Answer Came Promptly:
Hugh, My Dear--
I Was A Fish To Write That Letter--And I Know That I'll
Never Forgive Myself. But I Couldn't Help It--I Just
Couldn't Help It. I Am Glad That You Are Keeping Your
Head Because I've Lost Mine Entirely. Take All The Time
You Like. Do You Hate Me For Losing My Pride? I Do.
Your Stupid
Cynthia.
Weeks Went By, And Hugh Found No Solution. He Damned College With All
His Heart And Soul. What Good Had It Done Him Anyway? Here He Was With A
Serious Problem On His Hands And He Couldn't Solve It Any Better Than He
Could Have When He Was A Freshman. Four Years Of Studying And Lectures
And Examinations, And The First Time He Bucked Up Against A Bit Of Life
He Was Licked.
Eventually He Wrote To Her And Told Her That He Was Fonder Of Her Than
He Was Of Any Girl That He Had Ever Known But That He Didn't Know
Whether He Was In Love With Her Or Not. "I Have Learned To Distrust My
Own Emotions," He Wrote, "And My Own Decisions. The More I Think The
More Bewildered I Become. I Am Afraid To Ask You To Marry Me For Fear
That I'll Wreck Both Our Lives, And I'm Afraid Not To Ask You For The
Same Reason. Do You Think That Time Will Solve Our Problem? I Don't
Know. I Don't Know Anything."
She Replied That She Was Willing To Wait Just So Long As They Continued
To Correspond; She Said That She Could No Longer Bear Not To Hear From
Him. So They Wrote To Each Other, And The Tangle Of Their Relations
Became More Hopelessly Knotted. Cynthia Never Sent Another Letter So
Unguarded As Her First, But She Made No Pretense Of Hiding Her Love.
As Hugh Sank Deeper And Deeper Into The Bog Of Confusion And Distress,
His Contempt For His College "Education" Increased. One Night In May He
Expressed That Contempt To A Small Group Of Seniors.
"College Is Bunk," Said Hugh Sternly, "Pure Bunk. They Tell Us That We
Learn To Think. Rot! I Haven't Learned To Think; A Child Can Solve A
Simple Human Problem As Well As I Can. College Has Played Hell With Me.
I Came Here Four Years Ago A Darned Nice Kid, If I Do Say So Myself. I
Was Chock-Full Of Ideals And Illusions. Well, College Has Smashed Most
Of Those Ideals And Knocked The Illusions Plumb To Hell. I Thought, For
Example, That All College Men Were Gentlemen; Well, Most Of Them Aren't.
I Thought That All Of Them Were Intelligent And Hard Students."
The Group Broke Into Loud Laughter. "Me, Too," Said George Winsor When
The Noise Had Abated. "I Thought That I Was Coming To A Regular
Educational Heaven, Halls Of Learning And All That Sort Of Thing. Why,
It's A Farce. Here I Am Sporting A Phi Bete Key, An Honor Student If You
Please, And All That I Really Know As A Result Of My College 'Education'
Is The Fine Points Of Football And How To Play Poker. I Don't Really
Know One Damn Thing About Anything."
The Other Men Were Jack Lawrence And Pudge Jamieson. Jack Was An Earnest
Chap, Serious And Hard Working But Without A Trace Of Brilliance. He,
Too, Wore A Phi Beta Kappa Key, And So Did Pudge. Hugh Was The Only One
Of The Group Who Had Not Won That Honor; The Fact That He Was The Only
One Who Had Won A Letter Was Hardly, He Felt, Complete Justification.
His Legs No Longer Seemed More Important Than His Brains; In Fact, When
He Had Sprained A Tendon And Been Forced To Drop Track, He Had Been
Genuinely Pleased.
Pudge Was Quite As Plump As He Had Been As A Freshman And Quite As
Jovial, But He Did Not Tell So Many Smutty Stories. He Still Persisted
In Crossing His Knees In Spite Of The Difficulties Involved. When
Winsor Finished Speaking, Pudge Forced His Legs Into His Favorite
Position For Them And Then Twinkled At Winsor Through His Glasses.
"Right You Are, George," He Said In His Quick Way. "I Wear A Phi Bete
Key, Too. We Both Belong To The World's Greatest Intellectual
Fraternity, But What In Hell Do We Know? We've All Majored In English
Except Jack, And I'll Bet Any One Of Us Can Give The Others An Exam
Offhand That They Can't Pass. I'm Going To Law School. I Hope To God
That I Learn Something There. I Certainly Don't Feel That I Know
Anything Now As A Result Of My Four Years Of 'Higher Education.'"
"Well, If You Fellows Feel That Way," Said Hugh Mournfully, "How Do You
Suppose I Feel? I Made My First Really Good Record Last Term, And That
Wasn't Any World Beater. I've Learned How To Gamble And Smoke And Drink
And Pet In College, But That's About All That I Have Learned. I'm Not As
Fine As I Was When I Came Here. I've Been Coarsened And Cheapened; All
Of Us Have. I Take Things For Granted That Shocked Me Horribly Once. I
Know That They Ought To Shock Me Now, But They Don't. I've Made Some
Friends And I've Had A Wonderfuh The Clay Peacock_.)
_First Woman_. Look, All-Tamer. Here Is The Bird, The _Shakunta_.
Isn't The _Shakunta_ Lovely?
_Boy_ (_Looks About_). Where Is My Mamma? (_The Two Women Burst Out
Laughing_.)
_First Woman_. It Sounded Like Her Name, And Deceived Him. He Loves
His Mother.
_Second Woman_. She Said: "See How Pretty The Peacock Is." That Is
All.
_King_ (_To Himself_). His Mother's Name Is Shakuntala! But Names Are
Alike. I Trust This Hope May Not Prove A Disappointment In The End,
Like A Mirage.
_Boy_. I Like This Little Peacock, Sister. Can It Fly? (_He Seizes The
Toy_.) _First Woman_ (_Looks At The Boy. Anxiously_), Oh,
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