BOOK ONE --
The Romantic Egotist 0
CHAPTER 1 .
Amory 1
,
Son of
Beatrice Amory Blaine 2
99 inherited from
every trait , except the stray inexpressible few , that made
him 1
worth while .
,
an ineffectual , inarticulate man with a taste for Byron and a habit of drowsing over the Encyclopedia Britannica 100
, grew wealthy at thirty through the death of
two elder brothers 4
,
successful
Chicago 5
brokers
101 , and in the first flush of feeling that
the world 6
was
his 3
, went to
Bar Harbor 7
and met
Beatrice O'Hara 2
.
In consequence ,
Stephen Blaine 3
handed down to posterity
his 3
height of just under six feet and
his 3
tendency to waver at crucial moments , these two abstractions appearing in
Amory 1
.
For many years
he 3
hovered in the background of
's life ,
an unassertive figure with a face half-obliterated by lifeless , silky hair , continually occupied in “ taking care ” of
, continually harassed by the idea that
he 3
did n't and could n't understand
her 2
3 .
But
Beatrice Blaine 2
!
There was
a woman 2
!
Early pictures taken on
at
Lake Geneva 11
,
Wisconsin 12
, or in
Rome 13
at
the Sacred Heart Convent 14
-- an educational extravagance that in
her 2
youth was only for
the daughters of
the exceptionally wealthy 16
15 -- showed the exquisite delicacy of
her 2
features , the consummate art and simplicity of
her 2
clothes .
A brilliant education
she 2
had --
her 2
youth passed in renaissance glory ,
she 2
was versed in the latest gossip of the Older Roman Families ; known by name as
a fabulously wealthy American girl 2
to
Cardinal Vitori 17
and
Queen Margherita 18
and
more subtle celebrities that one must have had some culture even to have heard of 19
.
She 2
learned in
England 20
to prefer whiskey and soda to wine , and
her 2
small talk was broadened in two senses during a winter in
Vienna 21
.
All in all
Beatrice O'Hara 2
absorbed the sort of education that will be quite impossible ever again ; a tutelage measured by the number of things and
people 22
one could be contemptuous of and charming about ; a culture rich in all arts and traditions , barren of all ideas , in the last of those days when
the great gardener 23
clipped the inferior roses to produce one perfect bud .
In
her 2
less important moments
she 2
returned to
America 24
, met
Stephen Blaine 3
and married
him 3
-- this almost entirely because
she 2
was a little bit weary , a little bit sad .
was carried through a tiresome season and brought into
the world 25
on a spring day in ninety-six .
When
Amory 1
was five
he 1
was already a delightful companion for
her 2
.
He 1
was
an auburn-haired boy , with great , handsome eyes which
he 1
would grow up to in time , a facile imaginative mind and a taste for fancy dress
102 .
From
his 1
fourth to
his 1
tenth year
he 1
did
the country 26
with
in
, from
Coronado 28
, where
became so bored that
she 2
had a nervous breakdown in
a fashionable hotel 29
, down to
Mexico City 30
, where
she 2
took a mild , almost epidemic consumption .
This trouble pleased
her 2
, and later
she 2
made use of it as an intrinsic part of
her 2
atmosphere -- especially after several astounding bracers .
So , while
more or less fortunate little rich boys 31
were defying
governesses 32
on
the beach 33
at
Newport 34
, or being spanked or tutored or read to from “ Do and Dare , ” or “
Frank 35
on
the Mississippi 36
, ”
Amory 1
was biting
acquiescent bell-boys 37
in
the Waldorf 38
, outgrowing a natural repugnance to chamber music and symphonies , and deriving a highly specialized education from
.
“
Amory 1
. ”
“ Yes ,
Beatrice 2
. ”
( Such a quaint name for
;
she 2
encouraged it . )
“ Dear , do n't _ think _ of getting out of bed yet .
I 2
've always suspected that early rising in early life makes one nervous .
Clothilde 39
is having
your 1
breakfast brought up . ”
“ All right . ”
“
I 2
am feeling very old to-day ,
Amory 1
, ”
she 2
would sigh ,
her 2
face a rare cameo of pathos ,
her 2
voice exquisitely modulated ,
her 2
hands as facile as
Bernhardt 40
's .
“
My 2
nerves are on edge -- on edge .
We 41
must leave this terrifying place to-morrow and go searching for sunshine . ”
Amory 1
's penetrating green eyes would look out through tangled hair at
.
Even at this age
he 1
had no illusions about
her 2
.
“
Amory 1
. ”
“ Oh , _ yes _ . ”
“
I 2
want
you 1
to take a red-hot bath as hot as
you 1
can bear it , and just relax
your 1
nerves .
You 1
can read in the tub if
you 1
wish . ”
She 2
fed
him 1
sections of the “ Fetes Galantes ” before
he 1
was ten ; at eleven
he 1
could talk glibly , if rather reminiscently , of
Brahms 42
and
Mozart 43
and
Beethoven 44
.
One afternoon , when left alone in
the hotel 45
at
Hot Springs 46
,
he 1
sampled
's apricot cordial , and as the taste pleased
him 1
,
he 1
became quite tipsy .
This was fun for a while , but
he 1
essayed a cigarette in
his 1
exaltation , and succumbed to a vulgar , plebeian reaction .
Though this incident horrified
Beatrice 2
, it also secretly amused
her 2
and became part of what in a later generation would have been termed
her 2
“ line . ”
“
This son of mine 1
, ”
he 1
heard
her 2
tell
a room full of
awestruck , admiring women 48
47 one day , “ is entirely sophisticated and quite charming -- but delicate --
we 49
're all delicate ; _ here _ ,
you 48
know . ”
Her 2
hand was radiantly outlined against
her 2
beautiful bosom ; then sinking
her 2
voice to a whisper ,
she 2
told
them 48
of the apricot cordial .
They 48
rejoiced , for
she 2
was
a brave raconteuse 103
, but many were the keys turned in sideboard locks that night against the possible defection of
little Bobby 50
or
Barbara 51
... .
These domestic pilgrimages were invariably in state ;
two maids 52
,
the private car 53
, or
Mr. Blaine 3
when available , and very often a
physician 54
.
When
Amory 1
had the whooping-cough
four disgusted specialists 55
glared at each other hunched around
his 1
bed ; when
he 1
took scarlet fever the number of attendants , including
physicians 56
and
nurses 57
, totalled fourteen .
However , blood being thicker than broth ,
he 1
was pulled through .
The Blaines 8
were attached to
no city 58
.
They 8
were
the Blaines 8
of
Lake Geneva 11
;
they 8
had
quite enough relatives 59
to serve in place of
friends 60
, and an enviable standing from
Pasadena 61
to
Cape Cod 62
.
But
Beatrice 2
grew more and more prone to like only
new acquaintances 63
, as there were certain stories , such as the history of
her 2
constitution and its many amendments , memories of
her 2
years abroad , that it was necessary for
her 2
to repeat at regular intervals .
Like Freudian dreams , they must be thrown off , else they would sweep in and lay siege to
her 2
nerves .
But
Beatrice 2
was critical about
American women 64
, especially
the floating population of ex-Westerners 65
.
“
They 65
have accents ,
my 2
dear , ”
she 2
told
Amory 1
, “ not Southern accents or
Boston 66
accents , not an accent attached to
any locality 67
, just an accent ” --
she 2
became dreamy .
“
They 65
pick up old , moth-eaten
London 68
accents that are down on their luck and have to be used by
some one 98
.
They 65
talk as
an English butler 69
might after several years in
a
Chicago 5
grand-opera company
70 . ”
She 2
became almost incoherent -- “ Suppose -- time in
every Western woman 71
's life --
she 2
feels
is prosperous enough for
her 71
to have -- accent --
they 65
try to impress _
me 2
_ ,
-- ” Though
she 2
thought of
her 2
body as a mass of frailties ,
she 2
considered
her 2
soul quite as ill , and therefore important in
her 2
life .
She 2
had once been
a Catholic 104
, but discovering that
priests 73
were infinitely more attentive when
she 2
was in process of losing or regaining faith in
Mother Church 74
,
she 2
maintained an enchantingly wavering attitude .
Often
she 2
deplored the bourgeois quality of
the American Catholic clergy 75
, and was quite sure that had
she 2
lived in the shadow of the great Continental cathedrals
her 2
soul would still be a thin flame on the mighty altar of
Rome 13
.
Still , next to
doctors 76
,
priests 73
were
her 2
favorite sport .
“ Ah ,
Bishop Wiston 77
, ”
she 2
would declare , “
I 2
do not want to talk of
myself 2
.
I 2
can imagine the stream of
hysterical women fluttering at
your 77
doors
78 , beseeching
you 77
to be simpatico ” -- then after an interlude filled by
the clergyman 77
-- “ but
my 2
mood -- is -- oddly dissimilar . ”
Only to
bishops 79
and above did
she 2
divulge
her 2
clerical romance .
When
she 2
had first returned to
there had been
a pagan , Swinburnian young man 81
in
Asheville 82
, for whose passionate kisses and unsentimental conversations
she 2
had taken a decided penchant --
they 83
had discussed the matter pro and con with an intellectual romancing quite devoid of sappiness .
Eventually
she 2
had decided to marry for background , and
the young pagan from
Asheville 82
81 had gone through a spiritual crisis , joined
the Catholic Church 74
, and was now --
Monsignor Darcy 81
.
“ Indeed ,
Mrs. Blaine 2
,
he 81
is still delightful company -- quite
the cardinal 84
's right-hand man
81 . ”
“
Amory 1
will go to
him 81
one day ,
I 2
know , ” breathed
the beautiful lady 2
, “ and
Monsignor Darcy 81
will understand
him 1
as
he 81
understood
me 2
. ”
Amory 1
became thirteen , rather tall and slender , and more than ever on to
.
He 1
had tutored occasionally -- the idea being that
he 1
was to “ keep up , ” at each place “ taking up the work where
he 1
left off , ” yet as
no tutor 86
ever found the place
he 1
left off ,
his 1
mind was still in very good shape .
What a few more years of this life would have made of
him 1
is problematical .
However , four hours out from
land 87
,
Italy 88
bound , with
Beatrice 2
,
his 1
appendix burst , probably from too many meals in bed , and after a series of frantic telegrams to
Europe 89
and
America 24
, to the amazement of
the passengers 90
the great ship 91
slowly wheeled around and returned to
New York 92
to deposit
Amory 1
at the pier .
You 93
will admit that if it was not life it was magnificent .
After the operation
Beatrice 2
had a nervous breakdown that bore a suspicious resemblance to delirium tremens , and
Amory 1
was left in
Minneapolis 94
, destined to spend the ensuing two years with
and
uncle 96
.
There 94
the crude , vulgar air of Western civilization first catches
him 1
-- in
his 1
underwear , so to speak .
***** A KISS FOR
AMORY 1
His 1
lip curled when
he 1
read it .
“
I 97
am going to have a bobbing party , ” it said , “ on Thursday , December the seventeenth , at five o'clock , and
I 97
would like it very much if
you 2
could come .
Yours truly ,