Read Online Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Elizabeth von Arnim
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home recovering from a
tête-à-tête
luncheon with Uncle Arthur who hadn't said
a word from start to finish; and though she didn't like most of
his words when he did say them, she liked them still less when he
didn't say them, for then she imagined them, and what she
imagined was simply awful,--Anna-Rose had, I say, looked at Aunt
Alice in her mind's eye, and knew that this too was true.
Mr. Twist reappeared, followed by the brisk steward with a tray
of tea and cake, and their corner became very like a cheerful
picnic.
Mr. Twist was most pleasant and polite. Anna-Rose had told him
quite soon after he began to talk to her, in order, as she said, to
clear his mind of misconceptions, that she and Anna-Felicitas,
though their clothes at that moment, and the pigtails in which
their flair was done, might be misleading, were no longer children,
but quite the contrary; that they were, in fact, persons who were
almost ripe for going to dances, and certainly in another year
would be perfectly ripe for dances supposing there were any.
Mr. Twist listened attentively, and begged her to tell him any
other little thing she might think of as useful to him in his
capacity of friend and attendant,--both of which, said Mr. Twist,
he intended to be till he had seen them safely landed in New
York.
"I hope you don't think we
need
anybody," said Anna-Rose. "We shall like
being friends with you very much, but only on terms of perfect
equality."
"Sure," said Mr. Twist, who was an American.
"I thought--"
She hesitated a moment.
"You thought?" encouraged Mr. Twist politely.
"I thought at Liverpool you looked as if you were being
sorry for us."
"Sorry?" said Mr. Twist, in the tone of one who
repudiates.
"Yes. When we were waving good-bye to--to our
friends."
"Sorry?" repeated Mr. Twist.
"Which was great waste of your time."
"I should think so," said Mr. Twist with
heartiness.
Anna-Rose, having cleared the ground of misunderstandings, an
activity in which at all times she took pleasure, accepted Mr.
Twist's attentions in the spirit in which they were offered,
which was, as he said, one of mutual friendliness and esteem. As he
was never sea-sick, he could move about and do things for them that
might be difficult to do for themselves; as he knew a great deal
about stewardesses, he could tell them what sort of tip theirs
expected; as he was American, he could illuminate them about that
country. He had been doing Red Cross work with an American
ambulance in France for ten months, and was going home for a short
visit to see how his mother, who, Anna-Rose gathered, was ancient
and widowed, was getting on. His mother, he said, lived in
seclusion in a New England village with his sister, who had not
married.
"Then she's got it all before her," said
Anna-Rose.
"Like us," said Anna-Felicitas.
"I shouldn't think she'd got as much of it before
her as you," said Mr. Twist, "because she's
considerably more grown up--I mean," he added hastily, as
Anna-Rose's mouth opened, "she's less--well, less
completely young."
"We're not completely young," said Anna-Rose with
dignity. "People are completely young the day they're
born, and ever after that they spend their time becoming less
so."
"Exactly. And my sister has been becoming less so longer
than you have. I assure you that's all I meant. She's less
so even than I am."
"Then," said Anna-Rose, glancing at that part of Mr.
Twist's head where it appeared to be coming through his hair,
"she must have got to the stage when one is called a maiden
lady."
"And if she were a German," said Anna-Felicitas
suddenly, who hadn't till then said anything to Mr. Twist but
only smiled widely at him whenever he happened to look her way,
"she wouldn't be either a lady or a maiden, but just an
It. It's very rude of Germans, I think," went on
Anna-Felicitas, abstractedly smiling at the cake Mr. Twist was
offering her, "never to let us be anything but Its till
we've taken on some men."
Mr. Twist expressed surprise at this
tête-à-tête
luncheon with Uncle Arthur who hadn't said
a word from start to finish; and though she didn't like most of
his words when he did say them, she liked them still less when he
didn't say them, for then she imagined them, and what she
imagined was simply awful,--Anna-Rose had, I say, looked at Aunt
Alice in her mind's eye, and knew that this too was true.
Mr. Twist reappeared, followed by the brisk steward with a tray
of tea and cake, and their corner became very like a cheerful
picnic.
Mr. Twist was most pleasant and polite. Anna-Rose had told him
quite soon after he began to talk to her, in order, as she said, to
clear his mind of misconceptions, that she and Anna-Felicitas,
though their clothes at that moment, and the pigtails in which
their flair was done, might be misleading, were no longer children,
but quite the contrary; that they were, in fact, persons who were
almost ripe for going to dances, and certainly in another year
would be perfectly ripe for dances supposing there were any.
Mr. Twist listened attentively, and begged her to tell him any
other little thing she might think of as useful to him in his
capacity of friend and attendant,--both of which, said Mr. Twist,
he intended to be till he had seen them safely landed in New
York.
"I hope you don't think we
need
anybody," said Anna-Rose. "We shall like
being friends with you very much, but only on terms of perfect
equality."
"Sure," said Mr. Twist, who was an American.
"I thought--"
She hesitated a moment.
"You thought?" encouraged Mr. Twist politely.
"I thought at Liverpool you looked as if you were being
sorry for us."
"Sorry?" said Mr. Twist, in the tone of one who
repudiates.
"Yes. When we were waving good-bye to--to our
friends."
"Sorry?" repeated Mr. Twist.
"Which was great waste of your time."
"I should think so," said Mr. Twist with
heartiness.
Anna-Rose, having cleared the ground of misunderstandings, an
activity in which at all times she took pleasure, accepted Mr.
Twist's attentions in the spirit in which they were offered,
which was, as he said, one of mutual friendliness and esteem. As he
was never sea-sick, he could move about and do things for them that
might be difficult to do for themselves; as he knew a great deal
about stewardesses, he could tell them what sort of tip theirs
expected; as he was American, he could illuminate them about that
country. He had been doing Red Cross work with an American
ambulance in France for ten months, and was going home for a short
visit to see how his mother, who, Anna-Rose gathered, was ancient
and widowed, was getting on. His mother, he said, lived in
seclusion in a New England village with his sister, who had not
married.
"Then she's got it all before her," said
Anna-Rose.
"Like us," said Anna-Felicitas.
"I shouldn't think she'd got as much of it before
her as you," said Mr. Twist, "because she's
considerably more grown up--I mean," he added hastily, as
Anna-Rose's mouth opened, "she's less--well, less
completely young."
"We're not completely young," said Anna-Rose with
dignity. "People are completely young the day they're
born, and ever after that they spend their time becoming less
so."
"Exactly. And my sister has been becoming less so longer
than you have. I assure you that's all I meant. She's less
so even than I am."
"Then," said Anna-Rose, glancing at that part of Mr.
Twist's head where it appeared to be coming through his hair,
"she must have got to the stage when one is called a maiden
lady."
"And if she were a German," said Anna-Felicitas
suddenly, who hadn't till then said anything to Mr. Twist but
only smiled widely at him whenever he happened to look her way,
"she wouldn't be either a lady or a maiden, but just an
It. It's very rude of Germans, I think," went on
Anna-Felicitas, abstractedly smiling at the cake Mr. Twist was
offering her, "never to let us be anything but Its till
we've taken on some men."
Mr. Twist expressed surprise at this
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