290: “It’s a wonderful . . .”
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 7 continues
“IT’S A WONDERFUL NIGHT, isn’t it?” said Lorna. “It’s one of those nights when sweet scents are in the air.”
“That might be my hair tonic,” said Herb. They were in Herb’s car, heading for the Serenity Ballroom. Herb wound his window down. “I might’ve put too much on.”
“Herrrrrb — ” said Lorna, drawing his name out in a way that meant, “Don’t be silly!” (This “Herrrrrb — ” would in years to come become one of Lorna’s most frequently uttered remarks.)
“I wish I’d had time to get a new suit before I left home,” said Herb. “Well, I had time, but I didn’t take the time.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” said Lorna.
“You mean you like this suit? I got this before the war, long before the war.” He was suddenly struck by the fact that a great deal of time had passed during which ordinary things like buying a new suit hadn’t even crossed his mind, and by the idea that his suit and the new awareness he had of his suit, marked two points — the moment when he’d chosen the suit and the moment just passed when he’d been reminded of that moment — between which lay a huge bubble of time: all the time he’d been in the war, all the time it had taken him to begin to recognize love, all the time it had taken him to realize that he loved Lorna. “This is a very old suit,” said Herb, meaning all that.
“I didn’t mean that I like the suit,” said Lorna. “I meant that I’m glad you didn’t take the time to get a new one. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait any longer for you to come back. That’s what I meant.”
Herb looked at her and smiled, but the smile faded quickly. “Does that mean you don’t like the suit?” he asked.
“No, it doesn’t,” said Lorna. “I think you look just fine. Your suit is fine. Your shirt is fine. Your tie is beautiful.”
“Beautiful?” said Herb. He looked at Lorna with his face twisted in a worried grimace. “It’s wrong, isn’t it? It’s too loud. Calls attention to itself. I should’ve worn something different. Brown. A brown tie.”
Lorna burst out laughing. “Herb,” she said. “It wouldn’t make any difference what you wore. All the girls I knew in school, everyone I worked with in the mill, all the boys I’ve ever danced with, everyone who knows my family, anybody who’s ever known me, would have something to say about it anyway.”
“You mean they’ll be looking for something wrong with me.”
“I’m afraid so. They’ll all want to know what it is about you that makes you more — well — ”
“Yes?”
“More interesting or more — ”
“Desirable?”
“All right. More desirable.” She assumed the air of an outraged matron, mother of one of the young men of Chacallit; “I ask you,” she said, “what makes him more desirable than the young men right here in Chacallit?”
“Uh-oh,” said Herb. “I have the feeling that there’s one young man in particular.”
“I’m afraid there has been,” said Lorna.
“Will he be there tonight?”
“I suppose so.”
“How will I recognize him?”
“He’s tall and good-looking — ”
“Mmm.”
“ — with dark, wavy hair and a strong jaw and big hands–”
“Oh boy.”
“ — and he usually has a circle of admirers around him.”
“I should have worn a brown tie.”
[to be continued on Wednesday, July 6, 2022]
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In Topical Guide 290, Mark Dorset considers Smell; Odor; Aroma; Scent; Insecurity: Personal Appearance: Clothing and Insecurity: Rival in Love from this episode.
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