The Plastic Age by Percy Marks (best fiction books to read TXT) 📕

Soon Went Away To The Opera,  So I Had A Tete A Tete. Mr. Radclif(42)

Is Still Talked Of For Lady F.,  But I Have Not Asked Sir Will[Ia]M

Mus[Grave] If It Is True. He Is Very Well Spoke Of,  Et Le Nom Est

Assez Beau.

Quinze Goes On Vigorously At Almack'S.(43) Lady S. Says

That You Have Fixed Your Coming Of Age As An Epoque For Leaving Off

That And All Kind Of Play Whatsoever. My Dear Lord,  Vive Hodie;

Don'T Nurse Any Passion That Gathers Strength By Time,  And May Be

Easier Broke Of At First. I Am In Hopes Indeed That When You Are

Maitre De Vos Biens,  As The French Say,  You Will Not Invite Scot,

Parker,  Or Shafto(44) To Partake It With You. Your Condition Of

Life,  And The Necessary Expenses Of It,  Will Not Allow That

Coalition. I Never Kept So Long From Play Yet,  But I Frankly Own I

Have Not Much Virtue To Boast Of By That Continency. I Know Of No

Good Opportunity Which I Have Resisted. St. John(45) Told Me At The

Play Last Night That You Was To Go And Return From Turin Alone. I

Hope That Is Not So; I Shall Be Very Angry With Robert,  If He Does

Not Take Great Care Both Of You And Rover. I Will Finish The Rest

When I Have Seen Sir William.

Tuesday Night.--Sir W[Illia]M Sent Me Word He Did Not Call Upon Me

To-Day Because He Could Not Settle With The Courier Till Thursday;

And Hemmins Did Call,  And Assured Me That On Thursday The Badge

Should Be Ready. I Scolded Till I Was In a Fever; I Believe He Will

Not Venture To Put Me Off Any Longer.

(30) "Historic Doubts On Richard The Third."

(31) The Best English History That Had Been Written Up To That Time,

And The First That Made Any Attempt To Literary Merit. The First

Edition Was Published At Intervals From 1754 To 1761. A Second

Edition Had Been Issued In 1762.

(32) Henry,  Tenth Earl Of Pembroke (1734-1794). He Married In

1756 Elizabeth,  Second Daughter Of The Third Duke Of Marlborough.

(33) Lord Baltimore Had Been Acquitted Of The Charge Of Abduction

Which Had Been Brought Against Him,  But The Prosecution Brought

Forward Facts Sufficient To Justify The Public Indignation That Was

Raised. He Soon After Went Abroad,  And Died In Naples In 1771.

(34) Richard Fitzpatrick (1747-1813); Second Son Of John,  First

Earl Of Upper Ossory And Lady Evelyn Leveson Gower,  Daughter Of

Second Earl Gower. His Sister,  Lady Mary Fitzpatrick,  Married

Charles James Fox'S Elder Brother,  Stephen,  Afterward Second Lord

Holland. Fitzpatrick Is One Of The Best Known Names In The History

Of The Social Life Of The Last Half Of The Eighteenth Century--The

Duke Of Queensberry Left Him A Legacy In Recognition Of His Fine

Manners. He Was The Talented And Accomplished Friend Of Fox,  Whose

Excesses In Gaming And In all The Fashionable Follies Of The Day He

Rivalled. He Served With Credit In The American War; In 1780 Was

Returned To Parliament; In 1782 Appointed Secretary To The Duke Of

Portland,  Then Lord-Lieutenant Of Ireland; In 1783 Made Secretary At

War. At His Death He Was A Privy Councillor,  A General In The Army,

And Colonel Of The Forty-Seventh Regiment Of Foot.

(35) Lady Isabella Fitzroy,  Youngest Daughter Of Charles,  Second

Duke Of Grafton. She Married In 1741 Francis,  First Marquis Of

Hertford.

(36) George Lane Parker(1724-1791),  Second Son Of George,  Second

Earl Of Macclesfield. He Became A General And A Member Of

Parliament.

(37) William Wildman,  Second Viscount Barrington (1717-1793). He

Filled Various High Official And Court Offices; He Was A Chancellor

Of The Exchequer In 1761,  And Subsequently Secretary At War.

(38) The Bedford Faction Effected A Junction With The Government At

The End Of 1767,  And Lord Sandwich,  And Lord Weymouth,  And Rigby

Entered The Ministry.

(39)5 Caroline Fitzroy,  Eldest Daughter Of The Second Duke Of

Grafte Mie Than Half The

Fellows In This Fraternity Can Say. Most Of 'Em Don'T Do Anything But Go

On Parties And Raise Hell Generally. How Come You'Re Picking On Me? Why

Don'T You Ride Some Of Them For A While? I Don'T See Where They'Re So

Hot."

"Never Mind The Other Fellows." Tucker'S Black Eyes Flashed Angrily. He

Was One Of The "Hell-Raisers" Himself,  Good Looking; Always Beautifully

Dressed,  And Proud Of The Fact That He Was "Rated The Smoothest Man On

The Campus." His "Smoothness" Had Made Him Prominent In activities--That

And His Estimate Of Himself. He Took It For Granted That He Would Be

Prominent,  And The Students Accepted Him At His Own Valuation; And

Powerful Nu Delta Had Been Behind Him,  Always Able To Swing Votes When

Votes Were Needed.

"Never Mind The Other Fellows," He Repeated. "They'Re None Of Your

Party. You'Ve Got Talents,  And You'Re Not Making Use Of Them. You Could

Be As Popular As The Devil If You Wanted To,  But You Go Chasing Around

With Kikes And Micks."

Hugh Was Very Angry And A Little Absurd In His Youthful Pomposity. "I

Suppose You Refer To Parker And Einstein--My One Mick Friend,  Although

He Isn'T Irish,  And My,  One Jewish Friend. Well,  I Shall Stick To Them

And See Just As Much Of Them As I Like. I'Ve Told You That Before,  And

You Might As Well Get Me Straight Right Now: I'M Going To Run With

Whoever I Want. The Fraternity Cannot Dictate To Me About My Friends.

You Told Me You Didn'T Want Parker And Einstein Around The House. I

Don'T Bring Them Around. I Don'T See As How You'Ve Got A Right To Ask

Anything More."

"I Don'T Suppose You Realize That Everything You Do Reflects On The

Fraternity," Tucker Retorted,  Slightly Pompous Himself.

"I Suppose It Does,  But I Can'T See That I Have Done Anything That Is

Going To Ruin The Name Of Nu Delta. I Don'T Get Potted Regularly Or

Chase Around With Filthy Bags Or Flunk My Courses Or Crib My Way

Through; And I Could Mention Some Men In This House Who Do All Those

Things." Hugh Was Thoroughly Angry And No Longer In Possession Of His

Best Judgment. "If You Don'T Like The Way I Act,  You Can Have My Pin Any

Time You Say." He Stood Up,  His Blue Eyes Almost Black With Rage,  His

Cheeks Flushed,  His Mouth A Thin White Line.

Tucker Realized That He Had Gone Too Far. "Oh,  Don'T Get Sore,  Hugh," He

Said Soothingly. "I Didn'T Mean It The Way You Are Taking It. Of Course,

We Don'T Want You To Turn In Your Pin. We All Like You. We Just Want You

To Come Around More And Be One Of The Fellows,  More Of A Regular Guy. We

Feel That You Can Bring A Lot Of Honor To The Fraternity If You Want To,

And We'Ve Been Kinda Sore Because You'Ve Been Giving Activities The

Go-By."

"How About My Studies?" Hugh Retorted. "I Suppose You Want Me To Give

Them The Air. Well,  I Did The First Term,  And I Made A Record That I Was

Ashamed Of. I Promised My Folks That I'D Do Better; And I'M Going To. I

Give An Hour Or Two A Day To Track And Several Hours A Week To The Glee

Club,  And Now I'M Going To Have To Give Several More To The Banjo Club.

That'S All I Can Give At Present,  And That'S All I'M Going To Give. I

Know Perfectly Well That Some Fellows Can Go Out For A Bunch Of

Activities And Make Phi Bete,  Too; But They'Re Sharks And I'M Not. Don'T

Worry,  Either; I Won'T Disgrace The Fraternity By Making Phi Bete," He

Concluded Sarcastically.

"Oh,  Calm Down,  Hugh,  And Forget What I Said," Tucker Pleaded,

Thoroughly Sorry That He Had Started The Argument. "You Go Ahead And Do

What You Think Right And We'Ll Stand By You." He Stood Up And Put His

Hand On Hugh'S Shoulder. "No Hard Feelings,  Are There,  Old Man?"

Kindness Always Melted Hugh; No Matter How Angry He Was,  He Could Not

Resist It. "No," He Said Softly; "No Hard Feelings. I'M Sorry I Lost My

Temper."

Tucker Patted His Shoulder. "Oh,  That'S All Right. I Guess I Kinda Lost

Mine,  Too. You'Ll Be Around To The Meeting To-Morrow Night,  Won'T You?

Better Come. Paying Fines Don'T Get You Anywhere."

"Sure,  I'Ll Come."

He Went But Took No Part In The Discussion,  Nor Did He Frequent The

Fraternity House Any More Than He Had Previously. More And More He

Realized That He Had "Gone With The Wrong Crowd," And More And More He

Thought Of What Graham Had Said To Him In His Freshman Year About How A

Man Was In Hell If He Joined The Wrong Fraternity. "I Was The Wise

Bird," He Told Himself Caustically; "I Was The Guy Who Knew All About

It. Graham Saw What Would Happen,  And I Didn'T Have Sense Enough To

Take His Advice. Hell,  I Never Even Thought About What He Told Me. I

Knew That I Would Be In Heaven If Nu Delta Gave Me A Bid. Heaven! Well,

I'M Glad That They Were Too High-Hat For Norry Parker And That He Went

With The Right Bunch."

Norville Parker Was Hugh'S Catholic Friend,  And The More He Saw Of The

Freshman The Better He Liked Him. Parker Had Received Several Bids From

Fraternities,  And He Followed The Advice Hugh Had Given Him. "If Delta

Sigma Delta Bids You,  Go There," Hugh Had Said Positively. "They'Re The

Bunch You Belong With. Apparently The Kappa Zetes Are Going To Bid You,

Too. You Go Delta Sig If You Get The Chance." Hugh Envied Parker The

Really Beautiful Fraternity Life He Was Leading. "Why In God'S Name," He

Demanded Of Himself Regularly,  "Didn'T I Have Sense Enough To Take

Graham'S Advice?"

When Spring Came,  The Two Boys Took Long Walks Into The Country,  Both Of

Them Loving The New Beauty Of The Spring And Happy In Perfect

Companionship. Hugh Missed Carl Badly,  And He Wanted To Ask Parker To

Room With Him The Remainder Of The Term. He Felt,  However,  That The

Fraternity Would Object,  And He Wanted No Further Trouble With Nu Delta.

As A Matter Of Fact,  The Fraternity Would Have Said Nothing,  But Hugh

Had Become Hypersensitive And Expected His "Brothers" To Find Fault

With His Every Move. He Had No Intention Of Deserting Parker,  But He

Could Not Help Feeling That Rooming With Him Would Be A Gratuitous