Washington Square by Henry James Read Free Book Online Page A

frankly. “How many suitors has Catherine had, with all her expectations—how much attention has she ever received? Catherine is not unmarriageable, but she is absolutely unattractive. What other reason is there for Lavinia being so charmed with the idea that there is a lover in the house? There has never been one before, and Lavinia, with her sensitive, sympathetic nature, is not used to the idea. It affects her imagination. I must do the young men of New York the justice to say that they strike me as very disinterested. They prefer pretty girls—lively girls—girls like your own. Catherine is neither pretty nor lively.”
    â€œCatherine does very well; she has a style of her own—which is more than my poor Marian has, who has no style at all,” said Mrs. Almond. “The reason Catherine has received so little attention, is that she seems to all the young men to be older than themselves. She is so large, and she dresses so richly. They are rather afraid of her, I think; she looks as if she had been married already, and you know they don’t like married women. And if our young men appear disinterested,” the doctor’s wiser sister went on, “it is because they marry, as a general thing, so young—before twenty-five, at the age of innocence and sincerity—before the age of calculation. If they only waited a little, Catherine would fare better.”
    â€œAs a calculation? Thank you very much,” said the doctor.
    â€œWait till some intelligent man of forty comes along, and he will be delighted with Catherine,” Mrs. Almond continued.
    â€œMr. Townsend is not old enough, then? His motives may be pure.”
    â€œIt is very possible that his motives are pure; I should be very sorry to take the contrary for granted. Lavinia is sure of it; and as he is a very prepossessing youth, you might give him the benefit of the doubt.”
    Doctor Sloper reflected a moment.
    â€œWhat are his present means of subsistence?”
    â€œI have no idea. He lives, as I say, with his sister.”
    â€œA widow, with five children? Do you mean he lives
upon
her?”
    Mrs. Almond got up, and with a certain impatience, “Had you not better ask Mrs. Montgomery herself?” she inquired.
    â€œPerhaps I may come to that,” said the doctor. “Did you say the Second Avenue?” He made a note of the Second Avenue.

C HAPTER 7
    He was, however, by no means so much in earnest as this might seem to indicate; and, indeed, he was more than anything else amused with the whole situation. He was not in the least in a state of tension or of vigilance with regard to Catherine’s prospects; he was even on his guard against the ridicule that might attach itself to the spectacle of a house thrown into agitation by its daughter and heiress receiving attentions unprecedented in its annals. More than this, he went so far as to promise himself some entertainment from the little drama—if drama it was—of which Mrs. Penniman desired to represent the ingenious Mr. Townsend as the hero. He no had intention, as yet, of regulating the denouement. He was perfectly willing, as Elizabeth had suggested, to give the young man the benefit of every doubt. There was no great danger in it; for Catherine, at the age of twenty-two, was, after all, a rather mature blossom, such as could be plucked from the stem only by a vigorous jerk. The fact that Morris Townsend was poor, was not of necessity against him; the doctor had never made up his mind
that his daughter should marry a rich man. The fortune she would inherit struck him as a very sufficient provision for two reasonable persons, and if a penniless swain who could give a good account of himself should enter the lists, he should be judged quite upon his personal merits. There were other things besides. The doctor thought it very vulgar to be precipitate in accusing people of mercenary motives, inasmuch as his door had as yet not