This Side of Paradise
pread on a cream-colored bed. Pink and cream are the motifs of the room, but the only article of furniture in full view is a luxurious dressing-table with a glass top a
has lost its dignity and wound itself tortuously around everything in sight, and (4) upon the two small chairs, a collection of lingerie that beggars description. One would enjoy seeing the bill called forth by the finery displayed and one is possessed by a desire to see the princess for whose ben
hable mumble fr
Her lips move significantly as she looks for IT. Her search is less thorough than the maid's but there is a touch of fury in it
s voice, a very spoiled voice, s
teen, pretty, shrewd, and constitutionally good-humored. She is dressed for the evening in a gown the obvious simplici
LIA:
: (Outsi
: Very
LIND
: I've
of the dressing-table and commen
e) What are you d
out carrying the garmen
n a huge voice shouts: Mama! There is a chorus of protest from next doo
ere you all are! A
ckly) Take hi
he is do
him where his room is. Tell him I
u'd hurry. Father's telling him all about the w
es to draw CECELI
gerie) How do you mean-temperamental? Y
, he wri
oes he pla
on't th
Speculativ
othing quee
IA: M
he used to have a lot, an
ONNAGE
course we're glad to ha
tainly ought
wo other boys in some impossible apartment. I hope it isn't in order that you can all drink as much as you want. (She pauses
l, then, prove it by co
CONNAG
nd hasn't ch
ower tone) She's
meet her ma
ho-Mr. Amo
C no
onestly, Alec, she treats men terribly. She abuses them and cuts them and
They l
of vampire, I think-and she can make girls d
ality runs i
) I guess it ran out
Rosalind be
s sometimes, drinks punch, frequently kissed-Oh, yes-co
s MRS.
lmost finished so I can go
his moth
(Outside)
Mother's
htest effort to have men fall in love with them. Two types of men seldom do: dull men are usually afraid of he
he wants when she wants it and she is prone to make every one around her pretty miserable when she doesn't get it-but in the true sense she is not spoiled. Her fr
f and laissez faire for others. She loves shocking stories: she has that coarse streak that usually goes with natures that are both fi
presented qualities that she felt and despised in herself-incipient meanness, conceit, cowardice, and petty dishonesty. She once told a roomful of her mother's friends that the only excuse for w
e eternal kissable mouth, small, slightly sensual, and utterly disturbing. There were gray eyes and an unimpeachable skin with two spots of vanishing color. She wa
AMORY had found in ISABELLE. MONSIGNOR DARCY would have been quite up a tree whether to call her a
decided impatiently that she can do a better job herself. She is too nervous just now to stay in one place. To that we owe her presence in this littered ro
being in-(Combing her hair at the dressing-table.) One's a hoop skirt with pant
lad you're
: Yes; a
ive on Long Island with the fast younger married set. You wan
to be one! You mea
LIA:
t to keep men from winking at me. If I laugh hard from a front row in the theatre, the comedian plays to me for the rest of t
must be an a
en who interest me at all are the totally ineligi
as well get paid for the
particularly radiant I've thought,
it should all be wasted on just one family. (Getting up.) I think
now how to be really angry or really ha
d I don't have all you
ttle lunatic! If mother heard you talking like that sh
ough, because I know things I c
ittle girl! Who are you engaged to, the i
-good-by, darling,
sure and do that-
it on the soft carpet. She watches not her feet, but her eyes-never casually but always intently, even when she smiles
'm sorry.
tly) Oh, you're Amor
er closely) And
ome in-it's all right-mother'll be rig
This is sort of a
is No Ma
where you-
he crosses to the bureau.) Se
know you we
t did yo
rt of-sort of-sexless, yo
-but not in b
Busi
to two-
ave some stock in
alind, Unlimited." Fifty-one shares, name, goo
gly) Sort of a c
n I meet a man that doesn't bore me to death
ame point of view on me
lly feminine, yo
tereste
ve made me talk about mysel
Ru
ory, I hear you're brilliant. Th
w enco
him to think. Did you? I d
m really q
't intend this to b
: L
-I'm literary. I've-I
re-splendid!
ees are
re singing
sips he
ies away th
ng) No, not
denly) I
Do
Modes
'm always afraid of a gi
ly) My dear boy,
always be af
sadly) I supp
tation on both
ation) Listen. This is
at's coming) Aft
ou-kiss me? Or
raid-but your rea
I really wan
So
efinitely an
s second) Well, is you
Is
it's onl
look
ed dozens of men. I suppo
Yes, I suppose yo
ople like th
f) Good Lord, yes. Kiss
ity is generally
raged) Is t
rules to f
t alike-except that I'm y
w old a
t twenty-
inetee
e the product of a
erial. I was expelled from
your gene
selfish, emotional when a
don't want to fal
r eyebrows) Nobo
y) But I probably wil
outh-hair, eyes, shoulders, slippers-but not m
quite b
t's to
t isn't-
gain with the sa
moved) Say so
tened) Lor
ay) Well, don't-
we pretend
same standards of
y it's-oth
et's p
an't-it's
re not se
s things will last-a romantic person hopes agai
alf-closed.) You probably flatter you
Rosalind, don't a
now) No-I have no
ack) You wanted to k
This
d bett
suppo
toward
E:
tu
e-Home Team: One hun
tarts
ckly) Rai
goes
cigarette-case and hides it in the side drawer
wanting to speak to you alo
eavens! you
d, you've been a very
(Resigne
know your father has
ry face) Oh, please d
s is our last year in this house-and unless things
patiently) We
men. There may be a time when it's valuable, but at present I want you on the dance-floor where I can find you. There are certain men I w
cally) Yes, listeni
en and twenty years old. I don't mind a prom or a football game, but staying away f
e as high as her mother's) Mother, it's done-you can't r
e several bachelor friends of your father's
ding wisely) A
GE: (Sharp
life and are so adorably tired looking
-but I don't think you'll care for him
er, I never th
ver keep it long eno
pose some day I'll marry a t
e's a young man I like, and he's floating in money. It seems to me that since you seem tired of Howard
ou know I was tired
boy looks so miserabl
those romantic, pre-battle
aid) At any rate, make u
't you think
GE: You kn
violin being tuned, the roll of a drum. M
ONNAGE
D: One
the discreet patter of faint drums, the rustle of new silk, all blend on the staircase outside and drift in through the partly opened door. Bundled figures pass in the lighted hall. The laughter heard below becomes doubled and multiplied. Then some one comes in
seventeen, that it's positively anticlimax. (Shaking hands with a visionary middle-aged nobleman.) Yes, your grace-I b'lieve I've heard my sister spe
down-stairs, her arms outstretched to an imagi
L HOUR
ight is on each side above, and in the middle, over the couch hangs a painting of a ver
OWARD GILLESPIE, a vapid youth of about twenty-four.
o you mean I've changed. I
you don't look
o say that you liked me because I was
used to like you because you
y're still thin and brown.
core. What confuses men is that I'm perfectly natural. I used to think
IE: I l
(Coldly)
for two weeks. I had an idea that aft
r. I have to be won all over
: Are you
s a third kind, where the man is kissed and deserted. If Mr. Jones of the nineties bragged he'd kissed a girl, every one knew he was through with her
en why do you
t, when he's interested. There is a moment-Oh, just before the
PIE: A
Pretty soon he thinks of nothing but being alone with you
e, wealthy, faithful to his own, a bore
ve this is my
me. Now I know I haven't got too much p
GILLESPIE leaves, tr
arty is certa
en it lately. I'm weary-Do y
I loathe this "rushing" idea. See
IND:
R: W
nder if you kn
What-Oh-you know
roposition. Any one who marries me will h
I wouldn'
t to me. (She rises.) Come, let's go. I've changed my m
ter ALEC an
to get my own brothe
y) I'll go if
gin the next dance? (Sighs.) There's no color
don't want Amory to fal
n idea that that was
wfully attached to Amory. He's sensitive and I don't want him
e's very g
t marry him, but a girl doesn't hav
es it? I wish I
le kitty. It's lucky for some th
MRS. CO
Where on ear
've come to the best people to fi
as marshalled eight bachel
m a squad and march
e may be at the Cocoanut Grove with some football pla
t you better send the bu
y serious) Oh, you don'
's only jok
of her tapping a keg of b
: Let's look
SALIND comes in
re I ask you. Don't you car
alks in
: My
Gillespie, thi
Mr. Blaine. From Lak
RY:
've been there. It's in th
lways felt that I'd rather be provincia
SPIE:
Oh, no
E bows an
He's too m
in love with
LIND
sabelle-nothing at all to her
: What h
smarter than I was-then she threw me over. S
t do you mean
a car, but can
hat are you
ay-run for Pre
Greenwic
vens, no-I said
ness men. Clever men
as if I'd know
u going to commence
was Louis XIV and you were one of my-my-(
ve suggested
did it woul
LIND
ople are in a way terribl
rning her lip
berately t
sweet things. But
ND: No
: Wha
-only I want sentiment, real
nything else in the w
to find a male to grati
d the music of a waltz surges
! they're playin
oks at
Y: W
IND:
-the battle lo
: I love
y ki
God, what h
g. Oh, don't tal
or how, but I love you-f
o-I-I-oh, to-ni
s and then in a loud voice say
stirring) Don't let me go-I d
Y: S
God-and rather beautiful, thank God-and happy, thank God, thank God-
ses her
SM
ve. The critical qualities which had spoiled for each of them a dozen
fair," she told her anxious
he alternated between astonishing bursts of rather exceptional work an
s paradise of rose and flame. But the spell became a trance, seemed to increase from day to day; they began to talk of marrying in July-in June. All life was transmitted into terms of their love,
ad had a complete bouleversement and wa
LE INT
Everywhere these countless lights, this promise of a night of streets and singing-he moved in a half-dream through the crowd as if expecting to meet Rosalind hurrying toward him with eager feet from every corner.... How the unforgettable faces of dusk woul
cigarette where he lounged by the open window. As the door s
ne. How went the adver
rawled o
ry vision of the bustling agency was
She's w
si
t how wonderful she is. I don't want you
from the window-qu
pe and happiness,
iver of a tear
Golly
ER S
we do," sh
held out his arms so that
softly, "like summer, just when I nee
ed lazily ov
so good,"
you mean
just sweet..." he
, "when you're ready f
have much
h yourself for what you can't give me. I've go
l me
on't you? Oh
want to hear
Amory, with a
s, wil
life-Oh,
ha
nt your people to be my people
ven't any
at me, Amory.
at you want
re you-not me. Oh, you're so mu
sed hi
ned. Wouldn't it be awful if t
d at him
oo. I suppose all great happiness is a little sad. Beaut
ony of sacrifice and
eautiful, I know. I'
u're his most pre
ou. For the first time I regret all the other
times, when he was particularly loquacious, she went to sleep in his arms, but he loved that Rosalind-a
IC IN
d Amory heard a story that delighted him. Gillespie after several cocktails was in a tal
Kellerman had been there one day on a visit and had dived from the top of a rickety, thirty-foot summ
a form shot by him; Rosalind, her arms spread in a beautiful
arty tried it. Well, afterward Rosalind had the nerve to ask me why I stooped over when I dove. 'It didn't make it any easier,'
miling delightedly all through lunch. He thoug
WEEKS
very moodily and unhappily at nothing. She has changed perceptibly-she is a trifle thin
n an opera-cloak. She takes in
: Who is com
hear her, at leas
play, "Et tu, Brutus." (She perceives that she is talking
tarting) Oh-
ldn't imagine which one. (ROSALIND doesn't answer.) Dawson Ryder is more
expression that is quite ne
r two months on a theoretical genius who hasn't a penny to his
u know he has a little income-and you know he's
ke a step you'll spend your days regretting. It's not as if your father could help you. Things have been hard for him lately and he's an old man. You'd
r heaven's s
een telling him for ten days that he "looks like the wrath of God," and he does. As a
evening, M
ot unkindly) Goo
ut has been neutral. He believes in his heart that the marriage would make AMORY
Hi,
om said he'd meet
ow's the advertising to-day
ise-(Every one looks at him rather eagerly
Come, Alec,
d ALEC go out there is a pause. ROSALIND still stares moodily a
Darli
she seizes his hand, covers it with
ything. I see them often when you're away from me
cond and then she begins
: Ros
, we're so d
: Ros
Oh, I wa
ase.) We'll have to make a start. I like having to make a start together. (His forced hopefulness fades as he sees her unresponsive.) What's the matter? (He gets up suddenly and starts to pace the floor.) It's Dawson Ryder, that's what it is. He's been
if you don't sit
own suddenly besi
hand gently) You know
RY:
know I'll al
(She cries a little and rising from the couch goes to the armchair.) I've felt all afternoon that
othing to tell, I s
playing with the idea
pause) He's been as
l, he's go
er another pau
t say that.
t. You know you're the only man
osalind, let's get
ND: We
: Why
t. I'd be your squaw-
ndred and seventy-five d
I don't even do m
'll do i
een a laugh and
some one else. Tell me! You leave me in the dark.
s all. The very qualities I love you for are
(Grimly
. He's so reliable, I almost fe
ou don't
respect him, and he's a
dgingly) Ye
him on his lap and talked to him and promised him an Indian suit-and next day he remembered and bought it-and, oh, it was
spair) Rosali
roguishness) Don't look
r we have of hur
eam that I'd longed for and never thought I'd find. The first real unselfishness
t won't-
it as a beautiful memory
member always, not the beauty of it while it last
IND:
, never to kiss you, just a gate shut
gest course. Marrying you would be a failure and I never
despairingly o
over here
LIND
t you want
I want you to love
beginning
us now for our poses and vanities, for treating people like Sancho and yet getti
re afraid to ta
poem I read somewhere-you'll say Ell
wisdom-to l
fate or the g
estion, to m
lips and car
's ebb as we
hold, and, in
ut we ha
mes in the last month I'd have been completely yours if yo
to take our cha
on says I'd le
s hands does not move. The life
an't do with you, and I can
her's nerves. It's just that we'r
e crosses to him and taking his
es and flowers, cooped up in a little flat, waiting for you
nded by sudden un
: Ros
, go-Don't make it ha
e strained) Do you know what you
somehow in the qualit
: Can't
ou love me. You're afraid of t
ldn't be the Ro
I can't give you up! I can't, t
te in her voice) You
don't care! You're
ng the wise thing
going to marr
unshine and pretty things and cheerfulness-and I dread responsibility. I don't want to think about pots an
And you
end. Drifting hurts too much. We c
inger and hands it to him. The
wet cheek) Don't! Keep it, pl
he ring softly
rokenly) You
: Goo
more, with infinite lon
n't ever for
: Goo
m throw back his head-and he is gone. Gone-she half starts from
once more at the room. Here they had sat and dreamed: that tray she had so often filled with matches for him; that shade that they had
ss in time, Rosalind feels that she has lost so