At once the old man exclaimed: “When are you off duty?”
“At nine in the evening.”
“Well,” said the nice old man, “Come this evening. I am engaged tomorrow.” And he told her his address, which she repeated several times in order not to forget it.
Old men are in a hurry, because the law of nature as to the limits of age is threatening them. This rendezvous, asked for in the guise of a protecting philanthropist and accepted with gratitude, sent the old man into the seventh heaven of delight. How circumstances were playing into his hands!
But old men like to see clearly in business matters, and he could not yet bring himself to leave the footboard. Still doubting his luck, he asked himself anxiously: “Is this enough? Is there not something more to be done? Supposing she really believes that she has been asked to come for an introduction to get her another job?” He did not want to remain in a state of unnecessary excitement till the evening and would have liked to be more sure of his ground. But how utter the needful words without compromising his own family name, even with the girl, supposing that she really did not mean to take anything from him except a job? At bottom the position would have been the same had he been younger. But he was old. After a little experience, or even before they have had any, young men can get all they want, whereas the old man is a lover out of gear. The love-making machine within him is at least one little wheel short.
However, the old man was not inventing, but remembering. He remembered how at twenty, that is to say, forty years ago, before his marriage, he had whispered to a woman (much older than the tram-girl before him) who, on some flimsy pretext and in the presence of others, had already promised to come, in a low, but agitated voice a repetition of the invitation: “Will you come?’ The words would have sufficed. But here the street, which envies the love of the young and laughs at that of the old, was watching him, and there must therefore be no trace of emotion in his voice.
As he was leaving the tram he said to the girl: “Then I shall expect you this evening at nine.” Afterwards, as he remembered, he became aware that his voice, whether on account of the street or of his passion, had shaken. But he did not notice it at once, and when the girl answered: “Of course, I shan’t forget to turn up,” as she raised her eyes for a moment from the tram-lines and turned them towards him, it seemed to him that her promise had been made to the philanthropist. But, as he thought it over, all was as clear as forty years ago. The flash of her eye revealed the imp in her, as his own voice had revealed his anxiety. Without a doubt they understood each other. Mother Nature was graciously allowing him to love once again and for the last time.
III
The old man went off towards the Tergesteo with a more elastic step. He felt very fit, did the nice old man. Perhaps he had been without all that for too long. He had had so much to do that he had forgotten something which his system, still young, really needed. Feeling so fit, he could no longer have any doubt on the subject.
He was late when he reached the Tergesteo, so he had to hurry to the telephone to make up for lost time. For half an hour business absorbed his undivided attention. This calm was another source of satisfaction to him. He remembered how, when a young man, waiting had been such a torture and a delight to him that afterwards the pleasure awaited had paled by comparison. His calm seemed to him a proof of strength, and here he was certainly wrong.
When he had done his business he went towards the hotel where he always ate, like many other men of means who thus husbanded the supplies they had hoarded. He continued his self-examination as he walked. The desire within him was virile in its calmness, but complete. He had no scruples and he did not even remember how, when a young man, as became a person of
“At nine in the evening.”
“Well,” said the nice old man, “Come this evening. I am engaged tomorrow.” And he told her his address, which she repeated several times in order not to forget it.
Old men are in a hurry, because the law of nature as to the limits of age is threatening them. This rendezvous, asked for in the guise of a protecting philanthropist and accepted with gratitude, sent the old man into the seventh heaven of delight. How circumstances were playing into his hands!
But old men like to see clearly in business matters, and he could not yet bring himself to leave the footboard. Still doubting his luck, he asked himself anxiously: “Is this enough? Is there not something more to be done? Supposing she really believes that she has been asked to come for an introduction to get her another job?” He did not want to remain in a state of unnecessary excitement till the evening and would have liked to be more sure of his ground. But how utter the needful words without compromising his own family name, even with the girl, supposing that she really did not mean to take anything from him except a job? At bottom the position would have been the same had he been younger. But he was old. After a little experience, or even before they have had any, young men can get all they want, whereas the old man is a lover out of gear. The love-making machine within him is at least one little wheel short.
However, the old man was not inventing, but remembering. He remembered how at twenty, that is to say, forty years ago, before his marriage, he had whispered to a woman (much older than the tram-girl before him) who, on some flimsy pretext and in the presence of others, had already promised to come, in a low, but agitated voice a repetition of the invitation: “Will you come?’ The words would have sufficed. But here the street, which envies the love of the young and laughs at that of the old, was watching him, and there must therefore be no trace of emotion in his voice.
As he was leaving the tram he said to the girl: “Then I shall expect you this evening at nine.” Afterwards, as he remembered, he became aware that his voice, whether on account of the street or of his passion, had shaken. But he did not notice it at once, and when the girl answered: “Of course, I shan’t forget to turn up,” as she raised her eyes for a moment from the tram-lines and turned them towards him, it seemed to him that her promise had been made to the philanthropist. But, as he thought it over, all was as clear as forty years ago. The flash of her eye revealed the imp in her, as his own voice had revealed his anxiety. Without a doubt they understood each other. Mother Nature was graciously allowing him to love once again and for the last time.
III
The old man went off towards the Tergesteo with a more elastic step. He felt very fit, did the nice old man. Perhaps he had been without all that for too long. He had had so much to do that he had forgotten something which his system, still young, really needed. Feeling so fit, he could no longer have any doubt on the subject.
He was late when he reached the Tergesteo, so he had to hurry to the telephone to make up for lost time. For half an hour business absorbed his undivided attention. This calm was another source of satisfaction to him. He remembered how, when a young man, waiting had been such a torture and a delight to him that afterwards the pleasure awaited had paled by comparison. His calm seemed to him a proof of strength, and here he was certainly wrong.
When he had done his business he went towards the hotel where he always ate, like many other men of means who thus husbanded the supplies they had hoarded. He continued his self-examination as he walked. The desire within him was virile in its calmness, but complete. He had no scruples and he did not even remember how, when a young man, as became a person of
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