The Town in Bloom by Dodie Smith

Author:Dodie Smith [Dodie Smith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780335254
Publisher: Constable & Robinson
Published: 2012-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

10

As I spent so much time at the theatre I saw far less of Zelle than Molly and Lilian did, but even a few mornings and our late evening reunions were enough to convince me that Lilian had been right in thinking her puzzling; though I thought the word ‘odd’ was more applicable. I never felt there was any puzzle to be solved, simply that Zelle had an unusual character which was full of contradictions.

Sometimes there was a trace of grandeur in her manner; this was when she was launching into expenditure – usually on us – and wished to make it clear that the cost was of no importance. At other times she could be humble, slightly scared, and childlike. And though she dressed with a quiet sophistication that was almost elderly, compared with most young Club members, she was undoubtedly childlike in some of her tastes. She had brought with her from her flat a picture of a baby faun crouching over a fire in a misty landscape, at which she would gaze lovingly, making such remarks as, ‘Look at his darling furry ears.’ She had also brought some very impressive books, dealing with politics and world affairs – surprising reading for anyone who admired that faun, though perhaps not more surprising than The Times, which was the only newspaper she ever opened. I have a vivid mental picture of her sitting in the lounge, with her pony-straight legs neatly placed together, turning page after page. All the same, I was never sure if she actually read The Times – or the impressive books, though she sometimes handled them. What she certainly did read, swiftly and from cover to cover, was a copy of Dracula she found in the Green Room, a Members Only room where people often left their possessions lying about. She became so obsessed by this book that, for several very hot nights, she refused to have her bedroom window open in case Count Dracula climbed up from the street, four floors below, to bite her. She told this against herself, laughing; but she undoubtedly had a terror of the supernatural. When she heard that the top floor of the Club was said to be haunted she seriously considered moving to another floor. We were fond of her attic so Lilian assured her that the ghost only walked, if ever, on Hallowe’en, by which time Zelle expected to be back in her flat. It seemed that her guardian disapproved of women’s clubs and had only agreed to her staying with us while he was out of England; he had recently taken his family to the Continent. ‘In the autumn, I may study something,’ said Zelle, rather grandly. ‘That’s all the more reason why I should enjoy myself now.’

Her main way of enjoying herself seemed to be treating people to meals, which was a godsend to Molly and Lilian. They had now been promised work in the autumn but we were still only at the beginning of August and they had to be economical.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.