Marion Kingship

She likes

BOOKS: Proust, Flaubert, Dickens etc.

PLAYS: Bernard Shaw, Tennessee Williams

MUSIC: Stravinsky, Bartok

PAINTERS: Renoir, Van Gogh, Hopper.

Her favorite painter is Charles Demuth (Check spelling—is it Demeuth?)

FOOD: She likes Italian and Armenian food best.

Things to do

Read books on painters. Read Proust, Shaw and Flaubert. Find out about Italian and Armenian restaurants in New York.

After he had written the list, Bud put it in the small metal strongbox, where he kept his most private things. His brochures from Kingship Copper Incorporated were in it too. He locked the box and hid it in a closet in his bedroom.

The next day, Bud told his mother that he was not going to return to Caldwell College in September.

"I want to go to New York," he'd said. "I'll get a job there. I've had a really good idea. I can't tell you about it yet—it's a secret!"

His mother had smiled at him.

"You always have wonderful ideas, Bud," she'd said.

***

On the Sunday afternoon after her first meeting with Bud Corliss, Marion Kingship was sitting in one of the big, bright rooms in the New York Museum of Modern Art. She often came to the museum on Sundays. It was her favorite place in the city. She was looking at some large statues, when she heard a noise behind her.

"Hello again, Marion," said Bud Corliss. "1 didn't expect to see you here."

Bud was lying. He had expected to see Marion there. He had been waiting near her apartment building when she came out, and he had followed her to the museum.

"I love this museum," Bud went on. "I often come here."

This was a lie too. Bud had been there only once before. He'd found the rooms which contained paintings by the modern artists that Marion liked most.

"I come often too," Marion said. She smiled at the young man.

"I always wanted Ellen to be interested in art," Bud said. "But she never wanted to go to museums or look at paintings. Ellen was a very sweet girl, but her tastes were so different from mine. I liked her very much, but I don't think that we would have stayed together after college." He looked sad for a moment. Then he smiled.

"Let's look at the paintings together," he said. "I love American paintings. My favorite artist is an American. His name is Charles Demuth. Do you know his work, Marion?"

***

Several hours later, as the two young people left the museum together, Bud held Marion's hand for a moment.

"I'd like to take you to a restaurant for dinner tonight," he said. "There's a wonderful Armenian restaurant, not far from here. Do you like Armenian food, Marion?"

***

Gordon Gant

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14