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

But Not A Good Likeness Is Agreed On All Hands; But Such As It Is,  I

Am Very Much Obliged To You For It.

I Am Extremely Glad To Find That You Are Applying To Italian,  But To

Anything Is Useful. You Will Find The Benefit Of It Your Whole Life.

There Are Lacunes To Be Filled Up In every Stage,  Which Nothing Can

Supply So Well As Reading,  I Am Persuaded.

I Find The Last Of Mine That You Had Received When Charles Wrote His

Was A Month Ago; That Makes Me Afraid Sir J. L[Ambert] Keeps Them.

There [They] Are No More Worth His Keeping Than Your Receiving,  But

They Give Me The Pleasure Of Assuring You,  Which I Can,  With Great

Truth,  That I Am Ever Most Truly And Most Affectionately Yours.

(60) The Duke Of Grafton Made No Secret Of His Relations With Mrs.

Horton.

(61) Elizabeth,  Duchess Of Buccleugh,  Daughter Of George,  Duke Of

Montagu. She Was Married In 1767.

(62) Sir William Musgrave.

Intermixed With The Personal News Which Fills The Next Letter There

Are Allusions To Some Social And Political Incidents Very

Characteristic Of The Time. The Indian Nabob,  Or Millionaire As We

Should Now Call Him,  Had Begun To Desire A Seat In Parliament For

His Own Purposes,  Just As The Sinecurist Did For His,  And He Was

Able To Outbid The Home Purchaser. The Jealousy With Which The Court

Party Regarded The Encroachments Of These Returned Anglo-Indians In

Their Preserves Is Amusing,  Especially When We Recollect That So

Great Was The Venality

Were Sick; One Had A "Crying Jag." There Were Men There,  However,  Who

Were Not Drinking At All,  And They Were Making Gallant Efforts To Keep

The Sober Girls Away From The Less Sober Girls And The Inebriated

Brothers.

Hugh Was Not Drinking. The Idea Of Drinking At A Dance Was Offensive To

Him; He Thought It Insulting To The Girls. The Fact That Some Of The

Girls Were Drinking Horrified Him. He Didn'T Mind Their Smoking--Well,

Not Very Much; But Drinking? That Was Going Altogether Too Far.

About Midnight He Danced Again With Hester Sheville,  Not Because He

Wanted To But Because She Had Insisted. He Had Been Standing Gloomily In

The Doorway Watching The Bacchanalian Scene,  Listening To The Tom-Tom

Of The Drums When She Came Up To Him.

"I Wanta Dance," She Said Huskily. "I Wanta Dance With You--You--You

Blond Beast." Seeing No Way To Decline To Dance With The Half-Drunk

Girl,  He Put His Arm Around Her And Started Off. Hester'S Tongue Was No

Longer In control,  But Her Feet Followed His Unerringly. When The Music

Stopped,  She Whispered,  "Take Me--Ta-Take Me To Th' Th' Dining-Room."

Wonderingly,  Hugh Led Her Across The Hall. He Had Not Been In The

Dining-Room Since The Dance Started,  And He Was Amazed And Shocked To

Find Half A Dozen Couples In The Big Chairs Or On The Divans In close

Embrace. He Paused,  But Hester Led Him To An Empty Chair,  Shoved Him

Clumsily Down Into It,  And Then Flopped Down On His Lap.

"Le'S--Le'S Pet," She Whispered. "I Wanna Pet."

Again Hugh Smelled The Whisky Fumes As She Put Her Hot Mouth To His And

Kissed Him Hungrily. He Was Angry,  Angry And Humiliated. He Tried To Get

Up,  To Force The Girl Off Of His Lap,  But She Clung Tenaciously To Him,

Striving Insistently To Kiss Him On The Mouth. Finally Hugh'S Anger Got

The Better Of His Manners; He Stood Up,  The Girl Hanging To His Neck,

Literally Tore Her Arms Off Of Him,  Took Her By The Waist And Set Her

Down Firmly In The Chair.

"Sit There," He Said Softly,  Viciously; "Sit There."

She Began To Cry,  And He Walked Rapidly Out Of The Dining-Room,  His

Cheeks Flaming And His Eyes Flashing; And The Embracing Couples Paid No

Attention To Him At All. He Had To Pass The Door Of The Library To Get

His Top-Coat--He Made Up His Mind To Get Out Of The "Goddamned

House"--And Was Walking Quickly By The Door When One Of The Patronesses

Called To Him.

"Oh,  Mr. Carver. Will You Come Here A Minute?"

"Surely,  Mrs. Reynolds." He Entered The Library And Waited Before The

Dowager.

"I Left My Wrap Up-Stairs--In Mr. Merrill'S Room,  I Think It Is. I Am

Getting A Little Chilly. Won'T You Get It For Me?"

"Of Course. It'S In Merrill'S Room?"

"I Think It Is. It'S Right At The Head Of The Stairs. The Wrap'S Blue

With White Fur."

Hugh Ran Up The Stairs,  Opened Merrill'S Door,  Switched On The Lights,

And Immediately Spotted The Wrap Lying Over The Back Of A Chair. He

Picked It Up And Was About To Leave The Room When A Noise Behind Him

Attracted His Attention. He Turned And Saw A Man And A Girl Lying On The

Bed Watching Him.

Hugh Stared Blankly At Them,  His Mouth Half Open.

"Get Th' Hell Out Of Here," The Man Said Roughly.

For An Instant Hugh Continued To Stare; Then He Whirled About,  Walked

Out Of The Room,  Slammed The Door Behind Him,  And Hurried Down The

Stairs. He Delivered The Wrap To Mrs. Reynolds,  And Two Minutes Later He

Was Out Of The House Walking,  Almost Running,  Across The Campus To

Surrey Hall. Once There,  He Tore Off His Top-Coat,  His Jacket,  His

Collar And Tie,  And Threw Himself Down Into A Chair.

So This Was College! This Was The Fraternity--That Goddamned Rat House!

That Was What He Had Pledged Allegiance To,  Was It? Those Were His

Brothers,  Were They? Brothers! Brothers!

He Fairly Leaped Out Of His Chair And Began To Pace The Floor. College!

Gentlemen! A Lot Of Muckers Chasing Around With A Bunch Of Rats; That'S

What They Were. Great Thing--Fraternities. No Doubt About It,  They Were

A Great Institution.

He Paused In His Mental Tirade,  Suddenly Conscious Of The Fact That He

Wasn'T Fair. Some Of The Fraternities,  He Knew,  Would Never Stand For

Any Such Performance As He Had Witnessed That Evening; Most Of Them,  He

Was Sure,  Wouldn'T. It Was Just The Nu Deltas And One Or Two Others;

Well,  Maybe Three Or Four. So That'S What He Had Joined,  Was It?

He Thought Of Hester Sheville,  Of Her Whisky Breath,  Her Lascivious

Pawing--And His Hands Clenched. "Filthy Little Rat," He Said Aloud,  "The

Stinkin',  Rotten Rat."

Then He Remembered That There Had Been Girls There Who Hadn'T Drunk

Anything,  Girls Who Somehow Managed To Move Through The Whole Orgy Calm

And Sweet. His Anger Mounted. It Was A Hell Of A Way To Treat A Decent

Girl,  To Ask Her To A Dance With A Lot Of Drunkards And Soused Rats.

He Was Warm With Anger. Reckless Of The Buttons,  He Tore Off His

Waistcoat And Threw It On A Chair. The Jeweled Fraternity Pin By The

Pocket Caught His Eye. He Stared At It For A Moment And Then Slowly

Unpinned It. He Let It Lie In His Hand And Addressed It Aloud,  Hardly

Aware Of The Fact That He Was Speaking At All.

"So That'S What You Stand For,  Is It? For Snobs And Politicians And

Muckers. Well,  I Don'T Want Any More Of You--Not--One--Damn--Bit--

More--Of--You."

He Tossed The Pin Indifferently Upon The Center-Table,  Making Up His

Mind That He Would Resign From The Fraternity The Next Day.

When The Next Day Came He Found,  However,  That His Anger Had Somewhat

Abated. He Was Still Indignant,  But He Didn'T Have The Courage To Go

Through With His Resignation. Such An Action,  He Knew,  Would Mean A

Great Deal Of Publicity,  Publicity Impossible To Avoid. The Fraternity

Would Announce Its Acceptance Of His Resignation In "The Sanford Daily

News"; And Then He Would Either Have To Lie Or Start A Scandal.

As The Days Went By And He Thought More And More About The Dance,  He

Began To Doubt His Indignation. Wasn'T He After All A Prude To Get So

Hot? Wasn'T He Perhaps A Prig,  A Sissy? At Times He Thought That He Was;

At Other Times He Was Sure That He Wasn'T. He Could Be Permanently Sure

Of Only One Thing,  That He Was A Cynic.

Hugh Avoided The Nu Delta House For The Remainder Of The Term And Spent

More Time On His Studies Than He Had Since He Had Entered College. The

Result Was,  Of Course,  That He Made A Good Record,  And The A That Henley

Gave Him In english Delighted Him So Much That He Almost Forgot His

Fraternity Troubles. Not Quite,  However. During The First Few Weeks Of

The Vacation He Often Thought Of Talking To His Father About Nu Delta

But He Could Not Find The Courage To Destroy His Father'S Illusions. He

Found,  Too,  That He Couldn'T Talk To His Mother About Things That He Had

Seen And Learned At College. Like Most Of His Friends,