meeting. Speaking to the President directly works for getting out of elevators, discovering train schedules, and killing schools and promotions.”
“Does Cudlipp really have that much power?”
“He does. What is more, all Michaels and I have been able to threaten him with is our resignations from the administrative posts in the Department we so reluctantlyoccupy; and since Cudlipp would be only too delighted to take on those duties himself, with all that means for his enemies, our threats can scarcely be dignified by the term ‘idle.’ ”
“Golly,” Kate said.
“So,” Everglade asked, “what else is new?”
“As it happens,” Kate said, “I’m getting married.”
Enjoying the impact of this as a curtain line, Kate, who was still eschewing elevators, ran down the stairs and out of Baldwin, again to meet Polly Spence.
“I was on my way to see you,” Polly Spence said, “absolutely on my way. Have you
heard
the news from the Linguistics Department?”
“They’ve disproved Verner’s Law,” Kate ventured; “they’ve discovered long E never shifted after all.”
“It’s almost that amazing. They’re firing the only specialist they have in the English language because they might have to give him tenure and he’s primarily associated with University College.”
“The words are familiar,” Kate said, “and I even think I recognize the tune.”
“Which will mean,” Polly went on, “actually
mean
that the Linguistics Department will have a specialist in Chinese and
not
in English—can you believe it?”
“Oddly enough, I can,” Kate said. “Who objects to the promotion from University College, have you heard?”
“Well, of course, I’m just a lowly teaching assistant, and none of my news can be called from the horse’s mouth, or even from his immediate neighborhood, but the
general
word is that the College objects, and especiallythe new dean who looms on the horizon, though he is as yet nameless.”
“I believe,” Kate said, “I could put a name to him. Polly, you’ve actually come up with something lunch at the Cosmo wouldn’t cure. Give my love to Winthrop and I’ll give yours to Reed.”
“Who’s Reed?” Polly Spence called.
“My husband, more or less,” Kate called back, leaving Polly open-mouthed and speechless on the steps of Baldwin Hall.
Part Two
Death and After
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
Six
T HE news that Kate was acquiring a husband became, as the fall semester got under way, the excuse for a bacchanal. Which is to say that the three secretaries in the English Department, certain that marriage is more important than revolution, planned a department party to celebrate. Kate and Reed were to be the honored guests, and everyone who was invited would contribute the necessary funds and come. One may insult one’s colleagues, the administration, or the Board of Governors, but one does not offend secretaries.
“You,” Kate said to Reed, “are my greatest accomplishment. I have achieved the apotheosis of womanhood. To have earned a Ph.D., taught reasonably well, written books, traveled, been a friend and lover—these are mere evasions of my appointed role in life: to lead a man to the altar. You are my sacrifice to the goddess ofmiddle-class morality, as Iphigenia was Agamemnon’s sacrifice to Artemis. Shall you mind the party frightfully?”
“I shall be giddily amused. Nor had I known the victim enjoyed the sacrifice. I can never remember having been so outrageously happy.”
“Which merely shows how even the sanest man can be the sport of the gods. There are times, Reed, when I wonder if you know what you’re taking on. But I suppose if one ever knew that, one would never do anything. May I urge you to back out, if you so choose, before the party? After it, you are more committed
“Does Cudlipp really have that much power?”
“He does. What is more, all Michaels and I have been able to threaten him with is our resignations from the administrative posts in the Department we so reluctantlyoccupy; and since Cudlipp would be only too delighted to take on those duties himself, with all that means for his enemies, our threats can scarcely be dignified by the term ‘idle.’ ”
“Golly,” Kate said.
“So,” Everglade asked, “what else is new?”
“As it happens,” Kate said, “I’m getting married.”
Enjoying the impact of this as a curtain line, Kate, who was still eschewing elevators, ran down the stairs and out of Baldwin, again to meet Polly Spence.
“I was on my way to see you,” Polly Spence said, “absolutely on my way. Have you
heard
the news from the Linguistics Department?”
“They’ve disproved Verner’s Law,” Kate ventured; “they’ve discovered long E never shifted after all.”
“It’s almost that amazing. They’re firing the only specialist they have in the English language because they might have to give him tenure and he’s primarily associated with University College.”
“The words are familiar,” Kate said, “and I even think I recognize the tune.”
“Which will mean,” Polly went on, “actually
mean
that the Linguistics Department will have a specialist in Chinese and
not
in English—can you believe it?”
“Oddly enough, I can,” Kate said. “Who objects to the promotion from University College, have you heard?”
“Well, of course, I’m just a lowly teaching assistant, and none of my news can be called from the horse’s mouth, or even from his immediate neighborhood, but the
general
word is that the College objects, and especiallythe new dean who looms on the horizon, though he is as yet nameless.”
“I believe,” Kate said, “I could put a name to him. Polly, you’ve actually come up with something lunch at the Cosmo wouldn’t cure. Give my love to Winthrop and I’ll give yours to Reed.”
“Who’s Reed?” Polly Spence called.
“My husband, more or less,” Kate called back, leaving Polly open-mouthed and speechless on the steps of Baldwin Hall.
Part Two
Death and After
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
Six
T HE news that Kate was acquiring a husband became, as the fall semester got under way, the excuse for a bacchanal. Which is to say that the three secretaries in the English Department, certain that marriage is more important than revolution, planned a department party to celebrate. Kate and Reed were to be the honored guests, and everyone who was invited would contribute the necessary funds and come. One may insult one’s colleagues, the administration, or the Board of Governors, but one does not offend secretaries.
“You,” Kate said to Reed, “are my greatest accomplishment. I have achieved the apotheosis of womanhood. To have earned a Ph.D., taught reasonably well, written books, traveled, been a friend and lover—these are mere evasions of my appointed role in life: to lead a man to the altar. You are my sacrifice to the goddess ofmiddle-class morality, as Iphigenia was Agamemnon’s sacrifice to Artemis. Shall you mind the party frightfully?”
“I shall be giddily amused. Nor had I known the victim enjoyed the sacrifice. I can never remember having been so outrageously happy.”
“Which merely shows how even the sanest man can be the sport of the gods. There are times, Reed, when I wonder if you know what you’re taking on. But I suppose if one ever knew that, one would never do anything. May I urge you to back out, if you so choose, before the party? After it, you are more committed
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