Front matter (continued 9)
Reading edition
"That's a very pretty speech, Robert, for you. We were good comrades, weren't we? In the days of Barr and Lloyd!"
"From now on, Barr and Lloyd, Inc."
"But it isn't the same Barr nor the same Lloyd that are to be incorporated again. Suppose we prove not to be good comrades, this time?"
"In that case, we shall hie us to some genuinely civilized country—Sweden or Cape Comorin—where breach of comradeship is the sole ground for divorce—"
Indignant voices from the staircase penetrated their mutual absorption.
"Where in the world can they be!"
"So this is your radical hospitality!"
"Robert—latest method?—proposing by telepathy—imperfect communications—vast silences—heavenly harmony—"
"Pooh! Janet's no fool—nothing like a bee line—marriage license bureau—bird in the bush, you know—"
Blushing and looking like culprits, they climbed the stairs and braved the mock indignation meeting which their three friends were holding in the hall between flats 13 and 15. (Robert had rented both flats, as a surprise for Janet.)
Lydia went straight to Janet and enfolded her in a copious embrace, whilst Charlotte stood by, ready for a cordial handshake. Mark Pryor, stupefied at this exhibition of feminine perspicacity, could only stare at Robert and mutter:
"What! Already?"
"Was ever woman in this humor won!" drawled Lydia, as she led the way into Number Thirteen, Kelly's old flat. "I must say, Janet, I'm not much impressed with Robert's 1921 revision of the Lord of Burleigh stunt. Like all modern versions of fine old idylls, it's gingerbread without the ginger. Give me the village painter who leads his sweetheart to a palace! There's the thrill that comes but once in a lifetime. But fancy a millionaire taking his bride to a Kips Bay model tenement—and Number Thirteen at that!"
"You forget," said Robert, who, with Pryor, had followed the ladies in. "You forget that 'leiser Nachhall längst verklungner Lieder, zieht mit Erinnenings-Schauer durch die Brust."
"Which means, I take it," Pryor said:
"'I saw her then, as I see her yet,
With the rose she wore, when first we met.'"
"Pooh! Male parsimony disguised as Teuton sentiment," said Lydia. "Don't be put upon, Janet, by this love-in-a-tenement stuff. Let me give you a tip. Laurence Twickenham, my publisher, has just put his Long Island home on the market. He says that the ruinous royalties he's compelled to pay me do not permit him to keep up an expensive establishment. It's a perfectly gorgeous estate, right next to mine, and not too far from New York. Do make Robert buy it and settle down to a useful life as a country gentleman."
"What! Foster his mania for hearth and home?" cried Janet, laughing. "Catch me! Nowadays men are almost incurably domestic, as it is."
"Well, what are you children going to do?"
"Children!" said Robert, coming forward, and lecturing Lydia with gusto. "None of your wiseacre airs, Lydia. Our program will show you that we know our own minds. Hear ye! We shall be married as soon as Janet can get a day off. After the ceremony Janet will return to her job of running the Susan B. Anthony House; I shall return to my job of trying to make America safe for those who don't happen to be grafters, parasites, or profiteers. During the better part of the year, our offices will be in the Kips Bay tenements here, Numbers Thirteen and Fifteen, respectively—we shall toss up to see who gets which. No attempt on the part of either to impose his or her friends, diet, hygiene, or recreations upon the other without consent, will be tolerated for a moment. Each is to be absolute master in what may jointly be agreed upon to be his own domain, provided only that Janet is to darn all my socks or buy new pairs as fast as the big toe protrudes. At the end of nine months, we shall both be ready for a trip to—"
"To Sweden," Janet put in softly, going to his side and caressing his arm.
"To Sweden!" exclaimed Lydia, while Charlotte and Pryor laughed at her bewilderment. "To the psychopathic ward, if you ask me!"
* * * * * * * *
BY FELIX GRENDON
WILL HE COME BACK?
A Play
NIXOLA OF WALL STREET
A Novel
FREEDOM IN THE WORKSHOP
A Study
* * * * * * * *
[Transcriber's note: Inconsistent spelling and punctuation has been preserved as printed.]