The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Read Online Free PDF Page A

frighten him, he would remember that he was alone with her. He would listen politely to whatever inanity she would manage to get out and then he would see the hysteria in her eyes, the hateful hot flush in her cheeks. And he would go as all men had gone before him.
     
    And as she waited, with her hands pressed hard against the edge of the table, she felt the blushes start, the hateful redness and fire creep up her neck. She set her features in a stiff, silly smile and scuffed her feet under the table. She turned to him, still smiling, and a mechanical silly voice leaped out of her mouth, shocking her with the forward thing it said:
    ‘O, you must tell me more about America, Mr Madden. I’d love to go there.’
    ‘Well,’ he said. ‘I could talk all day and never finish. What did you have in mind?’
    In mind. Something, something had to be said.
    ‘Well, is it true that the men over there put their wives on a pedestal, so to speak?’
    He laughed, a big heavy laugh. He didn’t seem at all put out by her blushes, by her silly voice.
    ‘Yes, that’s correct, more’s the pity. That’s what’s wrong with the system, if you want to know. Guys beating their brains out to keep their wives in mink. It’s the women’s fault. No good. You should see some of the girls that walk on Broadway or Fifth. All dressed up with a dollar sign for a heart. Walking cash registers. Me, I wouldn’t have nothing to do with them.’
    Wouldn’t have nothing, well, he certainly wasn’t very well educated, whatever else he was. So he didn’t get married. ‘O, that’s not like Ireland, Mr Madden. Why, the men are gods here, I honestly do believe.’
    ‘And right too. Head of the house. That’s the teaching of the Church. What the man says goes. Now, in the States, the women want it both ways. They do no work and they want to be boss as well. And dumb, well, you wouldn’t believe how dumb some of those dames are.’
    He was so big, so male as” he said it that she felt the blushes start up again. His big hand thumped the table.
    ‘Well,’ she said. ‘Irishmen certainly wouldn’t stand for that, would they?’
    ‘Every man’s a sucker for a good shape. I know. In my business, you see some funny things.’
    Dangerous waters. Discussing women’s figures, well, who
     
    but an American would have the vulgarity? Change the subject. ‘And what is your business, Mr Madden?’
    ‘Hotel business. I was in the hotel business right on Times Square. You’ve heard of Times Square?’
    ‘O, yes, of course. I’ve seen it on the newsreels. When the war was over and it showed all the people cheering. And all those huge advertisements. O, it must be an exciting place to
    live.’
    He smiled: ‘Times Square. Watch the world go by. The things I’ve seen in fifteen years on Broadway. It’s an education. Why, I couldn’t even begin to…’
    ‘Well, don’t begin then,’ Mrs Henry Rrice said. She stood at the opened door, monumental, stern. ‘I’m sorry, Miss Hearne, but I must let Mary tidy up. Jim would sit here all day boring the life out of you with his talk about New York.’
    ‘O, but it isn’t boring, Mrs Rice. On the contrary, I think it’s most exciting.’
    Mr Madden stood up, indignant. He pointed at Miss Hearne. ‘This lady is interested in what goes on in the world. Not like you and Bernie.’
    Mrs Rice did not seem to hear. ‘There’s such a lot of work to be done. You know what maids are like, Miss Hearne. You have to be after them all the time. That’s why I like to have
    the dining-room done by ten.’
    ‘ Of course.’
    Mr Madden went to the door. ‘Glad to have met you, Miss Hearne. We must have another talk real soon.’
    ‘Yes, indeed we must.’ Said with her gayest smile to show him she liked him.
    Then Mrs Henry Rice offered her the Irish News to read and she took it and went upstairs to her room to finish unpacking. No need to hurry. Going over her linens, her packages of letters, and her collection