the large business owners and the most prosperous tradespeople of the town. They hide their homes behind tall hedges and send their children away to camp and summer resorts and college. But they always send their children to the Port Blair Public High School, because if they didn't, they would be considered snobs
1799478
and it would be bad for business. Caroline's father was a physician, and he had inherited the large colonial-style house where thev lived, and his practice, from his father. Caroline's mother came from a middle-class family in New York City. She and her husband had met at a college dance when he was attending medical school and she was an undergraduate. Thev went steady immediately, were married as soon as he was graduated, and after his internship they moved to Port Blair. At the time, the new Mrs. Bender was delighted to hve in what seemed to her to be the country, but she soon changed her mind. The narrow life, the small selection of close friends, the ugly little town, depressed her, and she determined that her daughter and young son would end up New Yorkers, as she was, or at least in a better part of Westchester. It was Mrs. Bender who insisted that Caroline go to RadcHffe (to be near Harvard boys) and it was Mrs. Bender who sat up with Caroline night after night to see that she learned her Latin verbs (Caroline's weakest subject) so that she would get a high mark on her college board exams and be accepted. Her son Mark was six years younger than Caroline, so she did not have to do anything about him at present, but she was already worrying and planning secretly to have him break out of the Port Blair High School mold and spend his senior year, at least, at Lawrence-ville. It was not that she was a social climber. It was simply that she considered life in Port Blair a dead-end street to many of the things that made life rewarding and stimulating, and she did not want her children to get to like it. That would have been easy. The younger generation enjoyed life in Port Blair, they had their own friends, their parties, their groping romances. But Mrs. Bender remembered something different and, to her, infinitely more desirable.
Although Mrs. Bender mourned the end of her daughter's engagement to Eddie Harris, it was not for the same reasons Caroline did. She was not a sentimental woman, and because her daughter was beautiful and talented and only twenty years old she was sure that another fiance would appear in due time. What was one Eddie Harris? One college senior looked like another to her, they were aU unformed, you could only guess what their futures would be. It was true that Eddie had a great deal of charm for a boy his age, he was poised, and he knew how to talk to older people as if he really enjoyed it. His musical talent was negligible; he played the piano the way the boys in her day had played the mandolin. She could picture
him better in public relations, perhaps, or in advertising. He came from a good family, he was attractive, and with his education and ambition she would have liked to see him as a husband for Caroline. When he sent Caroline that letter from Europe Mrs. Bender decided immediately that he was immature, flighty and selfish. Her major regret was that Caroline had spent so much time at college with him, when she could have been meeting other desirable boys. It would not be so easy to meet "friends" (her euphemism for "a good catch") in Port Blair after graduation. When Caroline expressed a wish to find a job in New York, Mrs. Bender was proud of her for taking the whole unhappy affair so well. She knew Caroline had no particular career ambitions, but nowadays a girl had to work even if she didn't need the money. You didn't stay home and rot, especially if you lived in a place like Port Blair—and rot was the word, Mrs. Bender said, for what would happen to a girl in Port Blair.
Dr. Bender was a typical small-town doctor, despite the fact that Port Blair was nothing like
1799478
and it would be bad for business. Caroline's father was a physician, and he had inherited the large colonial-style house where thev lived, and his practice, from his father. Caroline's mother came from a middle-class family in New York City. She and her husband had met at a college dance when he was attending medical school and she was an undergraduate. Thev went steady immediately, were married as soon as he was graduated, and after his internship they moved to Port Blair. At the time, the new Mrs. Bender was delighted to hve in what seemed to her to be the country, but she soon changed her mind. The narrow life, the small selection of close friends, the ugly little town, depressed her, and she determined that her daughter and young son would end up New Yorkers, as she was, or at least in a better part of Westchester. It was Mrs. Bender who insisted that Caroline go to RadcHffe (to be near Harvard boys) and it was Mrs. Bender who sat up with Caroline night after night to see that she learned her Latin verbs (Caroline's weakest subject) so that she would get a high mark on her college board exams and be accepted. Her son Mark was six years younger than Caroline, so she did not have to do anything about him at present, but she was already worrying and planning secretly to have him break out of the Port Blair High School mold and spend his senior year, at least, at Lawrence-ville. It was not that she was a social climber. It was simply that she considered life in Port Blair a dead-end street to many of the things that made life rewarding and stimulating, and she did not want her children to get to like it. That would have been easy. The younger generation enjoyed life in Port Blair, they had their own friends, their parties, their groping romances. But Mrs. Bender remembered something different and, to her, infinitely more desirable.
Although Mrs. Bender mourned the end of her daughter's engagement to Eddie Harris, it was not for the same reasons Caroline did. She was not a sentimental woman, and because her daughter was beautiful and talented and only twenty years old she was sure that another fiance would appear in due time. What was one Eddie Harris? One college senior looked like another to her, they were aU unformed, you could only guess what their futures would be. It was true that Eddie had a great deal of charm for a boy his age, he was poised, and he knew how to talk to older people as if he really enjoyed it. His musical talent was negligible; he played the piano the way the boys in her day had played the mandolin. She could picture
him better in public relations, perhaps, or in advertising. He came from a good family, he was attractive, and with his education and ambition she would have liked to see him as a husband for Caroline. When he sent Caroline that letter from Europe Mrs. Bender decided immediately that he was immature, flighty and selfish. Her major regret was that Caroline had spent so much time at college with him, when she could have been meeting other desirable boys. It would not be so easy to meet "friends" (her euphemism for "a good catch") in Port Blair after graduation. When Caroline expressed a wish to find a job in New York, Mrs. Bender was proud of her for taking the whole unhappy affair so well. She knew Caroline had no particular career ambitions, but nowadays a girl had to work even if she didn't need the money. You didn't stay home and rot, especially if you lived in a place like Port Blair—and rot was the word, Mrs. Bender said, for what would happen to a girl in Port Blair.
Dr. Bender was a typical small-town doctor, despite the fact that Port Blair was nothing like
Similar Books
