Chadwick, Jim's chauffeur, was accustomed occasionally to enact
also the part of valet, so that it was with a real luxury of service
that the young Studdifords settled down for the winter.
Julia had anticipated this settling as preceding a time of quiet, when
she and Jim should loiter over their snug little dinners, should come to
know the comforts of their own chairs, at each side of the library fire,
and laugh and cry over some old book, or talk and dream while they
stared into the coals. The months were racing about to her first wedding
anniversary, yet she felt that she really knew Jim only in a certain
superficial, holiday sense--she knew what cocktail he liked best, of
course, and what seats in the theatre; she was quite sure of the effect
of her own beauty upon him. But she longed for the real Jim, the soul
that was hidden somewhere under his gay mask, under the trim,
cleanshaven, smiling face. When there was less confusion, less laughing
and interrupting and going about, then she would find her husband, Julia
thought, and they would have long silent hours together in which to
build the foundation of their life.
Pages:
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375