The Garden-Party by Mansfield Katherine

Author:Mansfield, Katherine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: (Privatkopie)
Published: 2010-02-03T05:00:00+00:00

The Young Girl

In her blue dress, with her cheeks lightly flushed, her blue, blue eyes, and her gold curls pinned up as though for the first time – pinned up to be out of the way for her flight – Mrs. Raddick's daughter might have just dropped from this radiant heaven. Mrs. Raddick's timid, faintly astonished, but deeply admiring glance looked as if she believed it, too; but the daughter didn't appear any too pleased – why should she? – to have alighted on the steps of the Casino. Indeed, she was bored – bored as though heaven had been full of casinos with snuffy old saints for croupiers and crowns to play with.

»You don't mind taking Hennie?« said Mrs. Raddick. »Sure you don't? There's the car, and you'll have tea and we'll be back here on this step – right here – in an hour. You see, I want her to go in. She's not been before, and it's worth seeing. I feel it wouldn't be fair to her.«

»Oh, shut up, mother,« said she wearily. »Come along. Don't talk so much. And your bag's open; you'll be losing all your money again.«

»I'm sorry, darling,« said Mrs. Raddick.

»Oh, do come in! I want to make money,« said the impatient voice. »It's all jolly well for you – but I'm broke!«

»Here – take fifty francs, darling, take a hundred!« I saw Mrs. Raddick pressing notes into her hand as they passed through the swing doors.

Hennie and I stood on the steps a minute, watching the people. He had a very broad, delighted smile.

»I say,« he cried, »there's an English bulldog. Are they allowed to take dogs in there?«

»No, they're not.«

»He's a ripping chap, isn't he? I wish I had one. They're such fun. They frighten people so, and they're never fierce with their – the people they belong to.« Suddenly he squeezed my arm. »I say, do look at that old woman. Who is she? Why does she look like that? Is she a gambler?«

The ancient, withered creature, wearing a green satin dress, a black velvet cloak and a white hat with purple feathers, jerked slowly, slowly up the steps as though she were being drawn up on wires. She stared in front of her, she was laughing and nodding and cackling to herself; her claws clutched round what looked like a dirty boot-bag.

But just at that moment there was Mrs. Raddick again with – her – and another lady hovering in the background. Mrs. Raddick rushed at me. She was brightly flushed, gay, a different creature. She was like a woman who is saying »good-bye« to her friends on the station platform, with not a minute to spare before the train starts.

»Oh, you're here, still. Isn't that lucky! You've not gone. Isn't that fine! I've had the most dreadful time with – her,« and she waved to her daughter, who stood absolutely still, disdainful, looking down, twiddling her foot on the step, miles away. »They won't let her in. I swore she was twenty-one.

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