declaration of your need for freedom have waited at least until you’d been home with your family a while, and then introduced it more slowly?’
‘I had to do it while I had the courage,’ Gloria said. Then, catching sight of the reproach on Joe’s face, she cried, ‘Don’t look at me that way. I talked it over with the girls and we all agreed that it was best to be straight with them from the start.’
‘Better for you,’ Joe said. ‘Sometimes you have to consider other people’s feelings too, and if necessary put them first for a change. Still,’ he said heavily, ‘I suppose the damage is done now.’
‘I suppose so,’ Gloria said, ‘though I promise that I will try and make amends, and one thing I can be grateful for anyway is that you have lost that artificial and stiff way you used to talk to me, even if you are taking me to task.’
‘Miss Gloria –’
‘Why did you change so completely, Joe?’ Gloria said. ‘I often wanted to ask you.’
Joe’s heart was hammering in his chest so loudly that he was surprised that Gloria couldn’t hear it, and the roof of his mouth felt unaccountably dry. He forced himself to speak slowly and calmly. ‘I changed because you changed,’ he said. ‘As you grew from a child to an adult, I could no longer treat you in the free and easy way that I once did.’
‘Oh, stuff and nonsense, Joe!’ Gloria exclaimed.
‘It wouldn’t have been appropriate.’
‘Joe …’
Joe knew that he had to put an end to the questions before he betrayed himself altogether and so he faced her and said, ‘Miss Gloria, do you want me to teach you to drive this car or don’t you, because we are losing all the light and there are many other things I could be doing?’
‘In other words,’ said Gloria, ‘end of conversation.’
‘Unless it concerns the motor car or driving, yes.’
Gloria had no desire to alienate Joe. To obtain true freedom she had to learn to drive the car and to do that she needed him. ‘All right then,’ she said. ‘You win. Show me what I have to do.’
Gloria soon picked up how to drive the Ford, and Joe was glad, for it had been agony for him to sit so close to her, to breathe in her heady perfume, longing sometimes to kiss those luscious lips. He was often truly uncomfortable becauseshe did use the confines of the car to ask him personal questions and tease him in the way she had used to. He was glad when he felt that she had the confidence and skill to drive the New York streets in comparative safety.
After that there was no holding her at all. She’d be off to New York on vast shopping trips, returning with her friends, the car packed to the gunnels with bags full of clothes. They would often be wearing the new creations as they sat down to dinner, dresses made by the most fashionable designers, Chanel, Lanvin and Patou.
The girls were inspired by the styles of stars of the cinema screen, such as Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford, which they’d discuss endlessly and in glowing terms, and would scrutinise the fashion magazines like Vogue , or Queen or
Harper’s
Bazaar to be sure they were up to the minute.
These clothes were nothing like the conservative outfits Norah wore in mainly pastel shades. The majority of the new fashions were in vivid vibrant colours of green, blue or red, or in loud floral designs. The young were done with restricting corsets too, and instead wore silk camisoles, which flattened their chests in line with the fashion for the slightly boyish figure, suited to shift dresses with no waist and knife-edge pleats in the skirts.
‘Jean Patou has a darling little suit in wool and jersey,’ Gloria said one day, drawing the pillar-box-red illustration from her bag. ‘Just right for the cooler days of summer, don’t you think?’
‘I’d think more of it if there were more to it,’ Brian growled. ‘That skirt is far too short.’
‘Oh, Daddy, you’re funny,’ Gloria said. ‘Most skirts are short
‘I had to do it while I had the courage,’ Gloria said. Then, catching sight of the reproach on Joe’s face, she cried, ‘Don’t look at me that way. I talked it over with the girls and we all agreed that it was best to be straight with them from the start.’
‘Better for you,’ Joe said. ‘Sometimes you have to consider other people’s feelings too, and if necessary put them first for a change. Still,’ he said heavily, ‘I suppose the damage is done now.’
‘I suppose so,’ Gloria said, ‘though I promise that I will try and make amends, and one thing I can be grateful for anyway is that you have lost that artificial and stiff way you used to talk to me, even if you are taking me to task.’
‘Miss Gloria –’
‘Why did you change so completely, Joe?’ Gloria said. ‘I often wanted to ask you.’
Joe’s heart was hammering in his chest so loudly that he was surprised that Gloria couldn’t hear it, and the roof of his mouth felt unaccountably dry. He forced himself to speak slowly and calmly. ‘I changed because you changed,’ he said. ‘As you grew from a child to an adult, I could no longer treat you in the free and easy way that I once did.’
‘Oh, stuff and nonsense, Joe!’ Gloria exclaimed.
‘It wouldn’t have been appropriate.’
‘Joe …’
Joe knew that he had to put an end to the questions before he betrayed himself altogether and so he faced her and said, ‘Miss Gloria, do you want me to teach you to drive this car or don’t you, because we are losing all the light and there are many other things I could be doing?’
‘In other words,’ said Gloria, ‘end of conversation.’
‘Unless it concerns the motor car or driving, yes.’
Gloria had no desire to alienate Joe. To obtain true freedom she had to learn to drive the car and to do that she needed him. ‘All right then,’ she said. ‘You win. Show me what I have to do.’
Gloria soon picked up how to drive the Ford, and Joe was glad, for it had been agony for him to sit so close to her, to breathe in her heady perfume, longing sometimes to kiss those luscious lips. He was often truly uncomfortable becauseshe did use the confines of the car to ask him personal questions and tease him in the way she had used to. He was glad when he felt that she had the confidence and skill to drive the New York streets in comparative safety.
After that there was no holding her at all. She’d be off to New York on vast shopping trips, returning with her friends, the car packed to the gunnels with bags full of clothes. They would often be wearing the new creations as they sat down to dinner, dresses made by the most fashionable designers, Chanel, Lanvin and Patou.
The girls were inspired by the styles of stars of the cinema screen, such as Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford, which they’d discuss endlessly and in glowing terms, and would scrutinise the fashion magazines like Vogue , or Queen or
Harper’s
Bazaar to be sure they were up to the minute.
These clothes were nothing like the conservative outfits Norah wore in mainly pastel shades. The majority of the new fashions were in vivid vibrant colours of green, blue or red, or in loud floral designs. The young were done with restricting corsets too, and instead wore silk camisoles, which flattened their chests in line with the fashion for the slightly boyish figure, suited to shift dresses with no waist and knife-edge pleats in the skirts.
‘Jean Patou has a darling little suit in wool and jersey,’ Gloria said one day, drawing the pillar-box-red illustration from her bag. ‘Just right for the cooler days of summer, don’t you think?’
‘I’d think more of it if there were more to it,’ Brian growled. ‘That skirt is far too short.’
‘Oh, Daddy, you’re funny,’ Gloria said. ‘Most skirts are short
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