The Rise Of Silas Lapham By William Dean Howells Part 1, William Dean Howells [the red fox clan txt] 📗

And Tolled him On."

 

"I Should Like To Hear 'Em Say It!" Cried lapham.

"Or Anybody!"

 

"Well," Said His Wife,  Relinquishing this Point Of Anxiety,

"I Can'T Make Out Whether He Cares Anything for Her Or Not.

And Pen Can'T Tell Either; Or Else She Won'T."

 

"Oh,  I Guess He Cares For Her,  Fast Enough," Said The Colonel.

 

"I Can'T Make Out That He'S Said Or Done The First Thing

To Show It."

of 1 Part 11 Pg 131

"Well,  I Was Better Than A Year Getting my Courage Up."

 

"Oh,  That Was Different," Said Mrs. Lapham,  In contemptuous

Dismissal Of The Comparison,  And Yet With A Certain Fondness.

"I Guess,  If He Cared for Her,  A Fellow In his Position

Wouldn'T Be Long Getting up His Courage To Speak To Irene."

 

Lapham Brought His Fist Down On The Table Between Them.

 

"Look Here,  Persis! Once For All,  Now,  Don'T You Ever

Let Me Hear You Say Anything like That Again! I'M Worth

Nigh On To A Million,  And I'Ve Made It Every Cent Myself;

And My Girls Are The Equals Of Anybody,  I Don'T Care

Who It Is.  He Ain'T The Fellow To Take On Any Airs;

But If He Ever Tries It With Me,  I'Ll Send Him To The Right

About Mighty Quick.  I'Ll Have A Talk With Him,  If----"

 

"No,  No; Don'T Do That!" Implored his Wife.  "I Didn'T

Mean Anything.  I Don'T Know As I Meant Anything.

He'S Just As Unassuming as He Can Be,  And I Think Irene'S

A Match For Anybody.  You Just Let Things Go On.  It'Ll Be

All Right.  You Never Can Tell How It Is With Young People.

Perhaps She'S Offish.  Now You Ain'T--You Ain'T Going

To Say Anything?"

 

Lapham Suffered himself To Be Persuaded,  The More Easily,

No Doubt,  Because After His Explosion He Must Have Perceived

That His Pride Itself Stood In the Way Of What His Pride

Had Threatened.  He Contented himself With His Wife'S

Promise That She Would Never Again Present That Offensive

View Of The Case,  And She Did Not Remain Without A Certain

Support In his Sturdy Self-Assertion.

 

 

of 1 Part 12 Pg 132

 

Mrs.  Corey Returned with Her Daughters In the Early

Days Of October,  Having passed three Or Four Weeks At

Intervale After Leaving bar Harbour.  They Were Somewhat

Browner Than They Were When They Left Town In june,

But They Were Not Otherwise Changed.  Lily,  The Elder

Of The Girls,  Had Brought Back A Number Of Studies Of Kelp

And Toadstools,  With Accessory Rocks And Rotten Logs,

Which She Would Never Finish Up And Never Show Any One,

Knowing the Slightness Of Their Merit.  Nanny,  The Younger,

Had Read A Great Many Novels With A Keen Sense Of Their

Inaccuracy As Representations Of Life,  And Had Seen

A Great Deal Of Life With A Sad Regret For Its Difference

From Fiction.  They Were Both Nice Girls,  Accomplished,

Well-Dressed of Course,  And Well Enough Looking;

of 1 Part 12 Pg 133

But They Had Met No One At The Seaside Or The Mountains

Whom Their Taste Would Allow To Influence Their Fate,

And They Had Come Home To The Occupations They Had Left,

With No Hopes And No Fears To Distract Them.

 

In The Absence Of These They Were Fitted to Take

The More Vivid Interest In their Brother'S Affairs,

Which They Could See Weighed upon Their Mother'S Mind

After The First Hours Of Greeting.

 

"Oh,  It Seems To Have Been Going on,  And Your Father Has

Never Written A Word About It," She Said,  Shaking her Head.

 

"What Good Would It Have Done?" Asked nanny,  Who Was

Little And Fair,  With Rings Of Light Hair That Filled

A Bonnet-Front Very Prettily; She Looked best In a Bonnet.

"It Would Only Have Worried you.  He Could Not Have

Stopped tom; You Couldn'T,  When You Came Home To Do It."

 

"I Dare Say Papa Didn'T Know Much About It," Suggested lily.

She Was A Tall,  Lean,  Dark Girl,  Who Looked as If She

Were Not Quite Warm Enough,  And Whom You Always Associated

With Wraps Of Different Aesthetic Effect After You Had

Once Seen Her.

 

It Is A Serious Matter Always To The Women Of His Family

When A Young Man Gives Them Cause To Suspect That He

Is Interested in some Other Woman.  A Son-In-Law Or

Brother-In-Law Does Not Enter The Family; He Need not Be

Caressed or Made Anything of; But The Son'S Or Brother'S

Wife Has A Claim Upon His Mother And Sisters Which They

Cannot Deny.  Some Convention Of Their Sex Obliges Them

To Show Her Affection,  To Like Or To Seem To Like Her,

To Take Her To Their Intimacy,  However Odious She May

Be To Them.  With The Coreys It Was Something more Than

An Affair Of Sentiment.  They Were By No Means Poor,

And They Were Not Dependent Money-Wise Upon Tom Corey;

But The Mother Had Come,  Without Knowing it,  To Rely Upon

His Sense,  His Advice In everything,  And The Sisters,

Seeing him Hitherto So Indifferent To Girls,  Had Insensibly

Grown To Regard Him As Altogether Their Own Till He

Should Be Released,  Not By His Marriage,  But By Theirs,

An Event Which Had Not Approached with The Lapse Of Time.

Some Kinds Of Girls--They Believed that They Could Readily

Have Chosen A Kind--Might Have Taken Him Without Taking

Him From Them; But This Generosity Could Not Be Hoped

For In such A Girl As Miss Lapham.

 

"Perhaps," Urged their Mother,  "It Would Not Be So Bad.

She Seemed an Affectionate Little Thing with Her Mother,

Without A Great Deal Of Character Though She Was So Capable

About Some Things."

 

"Oh,  She'Ll Be An Affectionate Little Thing with Tom Too,

You May Be Sure," Said Nanny.  "And That Characterless

Capability Becomes The Most In tense Narrow-Mindedness.

She'Ll Think We Were Against Her From The Beginning."

 

of 1 Part 12 Pg 134

"She Has No Cause For That," Lily Interposed,  "And We

Shall Not Give Her Any."

 

"Yes,  We Shall," Retorted nanny.  "We Can'T Help It;

And If We Can'T,  Her Own Ignorance Would Be Cause Enough."

 

"I Can'T Feel That She'S Altogether Ignorant,"

Said Mrs. Corey Justly.

 

"Of Course She Can Read And Write," Admitted nanny.

 

"I Can'T Imagine What He Finds To Talk About With Her,"

Said Lily.

 

"Oh,  That'S Very Simple," Returned her Sister.

 

"They Talk About Themselves,  With Occasional References

To Each Other.  I Have Heard People 'Going on' On The

Hotel Piazzas.  She'S Embroidering,  Or Knitting,  Or Tatting,

Or Something of That Kind; And He Says She Seems Quite

Devoted to Needlework,  And She Says,  Yes,  She Has A Perfect

Passion For It,  And Everybody Laughs At Her For It;

But She Can'T Help It,  She Always Was So From A Child,

And Supposes She Always Shall Be,--With Remote And

Minute Particulars.  And She Ends By Saying that Perhaps

He Does Not Like People To Tat,  Or Knit,  Or Embroider,

Or Whatever.  And He Says,  Oh,  Yes,  He Does; What Could

Make Her Think Such A Thing? But For His Part He Likes

Boating rather Better,  Or If You'Re In the Woods Camping.

Then She Lets Him Take Up One Corner Of Her Work,

And Perhaps Touch Her Fingers; And That Encourages

Him To Say That He Supposes Nothing could Induce Her

To Drop Her Work Long Enough To Go Down On The Rocks,

Or Out Among The Huckleberry Bushes; And She Puts Her

Head On One Side,  And Says She Doesn'T Know Really.

And Then They Go,  And He Lies At Her Feet On The Rocks,

Or Picks Huckleberries And Drops Them In her Lap,  And They

Go On Talking about Themselves,  And Comparing notes To See

How They Differ From Each Other.  And----"

 

"That Will Do,  Nanny," Said Her Mother.

 

Lily Smiled autumnally.  "Oh,  Disgusting!"

 

"Disgusting? Not At All!" Protested her Sister.

"It'S Very Amusing when You See It,  And When You Do It----"

 

"It'S Always A Mystery What People See In each Other,"

Observed mrs. Corey Severely.

 

"Yes," Nanny Admitted,  "But I Don'T Know That There Is Much

Comfort For Us In the Application." "No,  There Isn'T,"

Said Her Mother.

 

"The Most That We Can Do Is To Hope For The Best Till

We Know The Worst.  Of Course We Shall Make The Best

Of The Worst When It Comes."

 

of 1 Part 12 Pg 135

"Yes,  And Perhaps It Would Not Be So Very Bad.

I Was Saying to Your Father When I Was Here In july

That Those Things Can Always Be Managed.  You Must Face

Them As If They Were Nothing out Of The Way,  And Try

Not To Give Any Cause For Bitterness Among Ourselves."

 

"That'S True.  But I Don'T Believe In too Much

Resignation Beforehand.  It Amounts To Concession," Said Nanny.

 

"Of Course We Should Oppose It In all Proper Ways,"

Returned her Mother.

 

Lily Had Ceased to Discuss The Matter.  In virtue Of Her

Artistic Temperament,  She Was Expected not To Be Very Practical.

It Was Her Mother And Her Sister Who Managed,  Submitting

To The Advice And Consent Of Corey What They Intended to Do.

 

"Your Father Wrote Me That He Had Called on Colonel Lapham

At His Place Of Business,"