A Pair of Silk Stockings

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good evening and welcome to Rest, your sanctuary for peaceful
sleep and relaxation. Whether you're escaping daily stresses or seeking
a nightly companion, you're in the right place. My name
is Jessica, and I'll be your host this evening. Before

(00:27):
we begin, why don't you turn off your screens and
turn down your volume. Now that's done, let's unwind and
help you ease into a blessed rest. Tonight we all

(00:52):
step into the world of Kate Chopin's story A Pair
of Silks Dockings. First published in eighteen ninety seven, this
classic follows a single day in the life of Missus Summers,

(01:13):
a woman who rather unexpectedly finds fifteen dollars. Before we begin,
take a moment to settle in. Find a comfortable position,
whether you're snuggling into bed or reclining in your favorite

(01:39):
lazy chair with your feet up. Feel the weight of
your body sinking into the softness beneath you, supporting every
part of your body perfectly. Allow your muscles to release

(02:03):
their tension, feeling your shoulders drop, your arms grow heavy,
and your legs completely relax. I'll be reading tonight's story
three times, giving you the chance to settle in and

(02:28):
allow the soothing repetition to ease your mind and body
into rest. So close your eyes, take a nice deep breath,
and let yourself drift. As we begin our story, Little

(02:58):
missus Summers one day found herself the unexpected possessor of
fifteen dollars. It seemed to her a very large amount
of money, and the way in which it stuffed and

(03:20):
bulged her worn old porte monnaie gave her a feeling
of importance such as she had not enjoyed for years.
The question of investment was one that occupied her greatly.

(03:42):
For a day or two. She walked about, apparently in
a dreamy state, but really absorbed in speculation and calculation.
She did not wish to act hastily to do anything

(04:04):
she might afterward regret. But it was during the still
hours of the night, when she lay awake, revolving plans
in her mind, that she seemed to see her way
clearly toward a proper and judicious use of the money.

(04:31):
A dollar or two should be added to the price
usually paid for Janie's shoes, which would ensure their lasting
an appreciable time longer than they usually did. She would

(04:51):
buy so and so many yards of pe kale for
new shirt waists for the boys, and Jane and Mag.
She had intended to make the old ones do by
skillful patching. Mag should have another gown. She had seen

(05:19):
some beautiful patterns, veritable bargains in the shop windows, and
still there would be left enough for new stockings, two
pairs apiece, and what darning that would save for a while.

(05:42):
She would get caps for the boys and sailor hats
for the girls. The vision of her little brood looking
fresh and dainty and new for once in their lives

(06:03):
excited her and made her restless and wakeful with anticipation.
The neighbors sometimes talked of certain better days that little
Missus Summers had known before she had ever thought of

(06:25):
being Missus Summers. She herself indulged in no such morbid retrospection.
She had no time, no second of time to devote
to the past. The needs of the present absorbed her

(06:52):
every faculty. A vision of the future like some dim,
gaunt monster, sometimes appalled her, but luckily tomorrow never comes.

(07:13):
Missus Summers was one who knew the value of bargains,
who could stand for hours making her way inch by
inch toward the desired object that was selling below cost.

(07:36):
She could elbow her way if need be. She had
learned to clutch a piece of goods and hold it
and stick to it with persistence and determination, till her
turn came to be served, no matter when it came.

(08:04):
But that day she was a little faint and tired.
She had swallowed a light luncheon no when she came
to think of it. Between getting the children fed and

(08:26):
the place righted and preparing herself for the shopping bout,
she had actually forgotten to eat any luncheon at all.
She sat herself upon a evolving stool before a counter

(08:46):
that was comparatively deserted, trying to gather strength and courage
to charge through an eager multitude that was besieging breastworks
of shirting and figured lawn. An all gone limp feeling

(09:09):
had come over her, and she rested her hand aimlessly
upon the counter. She wore no gloves. By degrees, she
grew aware that her hand had encountered something very soothing,

(09:30):
very pleasant to touch. She looked down to see that
her hand lay upon a pile of silk stockings. A
placard nearby announced that they had been reduced in price

(09:53):
from two dollars and fifty cents to one dollar and
ninety eight sense, and a young girl who stood behind
the counter asked her if she wished to examine their
line of silcoseery. She smiled, just as if she had

(10:20):
been asked to inspect a tiara of diamonds with the
ultimate view of purchasing it. But she went on feeling
the soft, sheeny, luxurious things with both hands, now holding

(10:43):
them up to see them glisten and to feel them
glide serpent like through her fingers. Two hectic blotches came
suddenly in to her pale cheeks. She looked up at

(11:04):
the girl. Do you think there are any eights and
a half among these? There were any number of eights
and a half. In fact, there were more of that
size than any other. Here was a light blue pair,

(11:33):
there were some lavender, some all black, and various shades
of tan and gray. Missus Summers selected a black pair
and looked at them very long and closely. She pretended

(11:58):
to be examining their texture, which the clerk assured her
was excellent. A dollar and ninety eight cents, she mused aloud, well,
I'll take this pair. She handed the girl a five

(12:22):
dollar bill and waited for her change and for her parcel.
What a very small parcel it was. It seemed lost
in the depths of her shabby, old shopping bag. Missus

(12:44):
Summers after that did not move in the direction of
the bargain counter. She took the elevator, which carried her
to an upper floor into the region of the lady's
waiting rooms. Here, in a retired corner, she exchanged her

(13:11):
cotton stockings for the new silk ones which she had
just bought. She was not going through any acute mental
process or reasoning with herself, nor was she striving to
explain to her satisfaction the motive of her action. She

(13:40):
was not thinking at all. She seemed for the first
time to be taking a rest from that laborious and
fatiguing function, and to have abandoned herself to some mechanical

(14:02):
impulse that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility.
How good was the touch of the raw silk to
her flesh. She felt like lying back in the cushioned

(14:23):
chair and reveling for a while in the luxury of it.
She did for a little while. Then she replaced her shoes,
rolled the cotton stockings together and thrust them into her bag.

(14:47):
After doing this, she crossed straight over to the shoe
department and took her seat to be fitted. She was fastidious.
The clerk could not make her out. He could not

(15:09):
reconcile her shoes with her stockings, and she was not
too easily pleased. She held back her skirts and turned
her feet one way and her head another way. As

(15:30):
she glanced down at the polished, pointed tipped boots, her
foot and ankle looked very pretty. She could not realize
that they belonged to her and were a part of herself.

(15:56):
She wanted an excellent and style fit, she told the
young fellow who served her, and she did not mind
the difference of a dollar or two more in the price,
so long as she got what she desired. It was

(16:21):
a long time since Missus Summers had been fitted with gloves.
On rare occasions, when she had bought a pair, they
were always bargains, so cheap that it would have been

(16:42):
preposterous and unreasonable to have expected them to be fitted
to the hand. Now, she rested her elbow on the
cushion of the glove. Count and a pretty pleasant. Young creature,

(17:06):
delicate and deft of touch, drew a long wristed kid
over Missus Summer's hand. She smoothed it down over the
wrist and buttoned it neatly, and both lost themselves for

(17:28):
a second or two in admiring contemplation of the little,
symmetrical gloved hand. But there were other places where money
might be spent. There were books and magazines piled up

(17:54):
in the window of a stall a few paces down
the street. Missus Summers bought two high priced magazines, such
as she had been accustomed to read in the days
when she had been accustomed to other pleasant things. She

(18:20):
carried them without wrapping as well as she could. She
lifted her skirts at the crossings. Her stockings and boots
and well fitting gloves had worked marvels in her bearing,

(18:43):
had given her a feeling of assurance, a sense of
belonging to the well dressed multitude. She was very hungry.
Another time she would have stilled the cravings for food

(19:05):
until reaching her own home, where she would have brewed
herself a cup of tea and taken a snack of
anything that was available. But the impulse that was guiding
her would not suffer her to entertain any such thought.

(19:32):
There was a restaurant at the corner. She had never
entered its doors. From the outside, she had sometimes caught
glimpses of spotless damask and shining crystal, and soft stepping

(19:54):
waiters serving people of fashion. She entered. Her appearance created
no surprise, no consternation, as she had half feared it might.
She seated herself at a small table alone, and an

(20:20):
attentive waiter at once approached to take her order. She
did not want a profusion. She craved a nice and
tasty bite, a half dozen blue points, a plump chop

(20:42):
with cress, a something sweet, a crem frapee for instance,
a glass of wine wine, and after all, a small
cup of black coffee. While waiting to be served, she

(21:07):
removed her gloves very leisurely and laid them beside her.
Then she picked up a magazine and glanced through it,
cutting the pages with a blunt edge of her knife.

(21:29):
It was all very agreeable. The damask was even more
spotless than it had seemed through the window, and the
crystal more sparkling. There were quiet ladies and gentlemen who

(21:52):
did not notice her lunching at the small tables like
her own. A soft, pleasing strain of music could be heard,
and a gentle breeze was blowing through the window. She

(22:14):
tasted a bite, and she read a word or two,
and she sipped the amber wine and wiggled her toes
in the silk stockings. The price of it made no difference.

(22:36):
She counted the money out to the waiter and left
an extra coin on his tray, whereupon he bowed before
her as before a princess of royal blood. There was

(22:57):
still money in her purse, and her next temptation presented
itself in the shape of a matinee poster. It was
a little later when she entered the theater. The play

(23:18):
had begun, and the house seemed to her to be packed,
But there were vacant seats here and there, and into
one of them she was ushered between brilliantly dressed women

(23:40):
who had gone there to kill time and eat candy
and display their gaudy attire. There were many others who
were there solely for the play and acting. It is

(24:01):
safe to say there was no one present who bore
quite the attitude which missus Summers did to her surroundings.
She gathered in the whole stage and players and people

(24:23):
in one wide impression, and absorbed it and enjoyed it.
She laughed at the comedy and wept. She and the
gaudy woman next to her wept over the tragedy, and

(24:48):
they talked a little together over it. And the gaudy
woman wiped her eyes and sniffled on a tiny square
of filmy, perfumed lace, and passed little Missus Summers her

(25:09):
box of candy. The play was over, the music ceased,
the crowd filed out. It was like a dream ended,
people scattered in all directions. Missus Summers went to the

(25:36):
corner and waited for the cable car. A man with
keen eyes who sat opposite to her seemed to like
the study of her small, pale face. It puzzled him

(25:57):
to decipher what he saw there. In truth, he saw nothing,
unless he were wizard enough to detect a poignant wish,
a powerful longing that the cable car would never stop anywhere,

(26:22):
but go on and on with her forever. Quietly absorb
the soothing words, for soon we shall embark on this
journey once more, immersing ourselves in the warmth of the narrative.

(26:47):
Once again, Little missus Summers one day found herself the
unexpected possessor of fifteen dollars. It seemed to her a

(27:08):
very large amount of money, and the way in which
it stuffed and bulged her worn old porte money gave
her a feeling of importance such as she had not
enjoyed for years. The question of investment was one that

(27:36):
occupied her greatly for a day or two. She walked about,
apparently in a dreamy state, but really absorbed in speculation
and calculation. She did not wish to act hastily, to

(27:59):
do anything she might afterward regret. But it was during
the still hours of the night, when she lay awake
revolving plans in her mind, that she seemed to see
her way clearly toward a proper and judicious use of

(28:25):
the money. A dollar or two should be added to
the price usually paid for Janie's shoes, which would ensure
their lasting an appreciable time longer than they usually did.

(28:47):
She would buy so and so many yards of pe
kale for new shirt waists for the boys, and Jane
and Mag. She had intended to make the old ones
do by skillful patching. Mag should have another gown she

(29:15):
had seen some beautiful patterns, veritable bargains in the shop windows,
and still there would be left enough for new stockings,
two pairs apiece, and what darning that would save for

(29:36):
a while. She would get caps for the boys and
sailor hats for the girls. The vision of her little
brood looking fresh and dainty and new for once in

(29:58):
their lives excited her and made her restless and wakeful
with anticipation. The neighbors sometimes talked of certain better days
that little Missus Summers had known before she had ever

(30:21):
thought of being Missus Summers. She herself indulged in no
such morbid retrospection. She had no time, no second of
time to devote to the past. The needs of the

(30:46):
present absorbed her every faculty. A vision of the future
like some dim, gaunt monster, sometimes appalled her, but luckily
tomorrow never comes. Missus Summers was one who knew the

(31:14):
value of bargains, who could stand for hours, making her
way inch by inch toward the desired object that was
selling below cost. She could elbow her way if need be.

(31:39):
She had learned to clutch a piece of goods and
hold it and stick to it with persistence and determination
till her turn came to be served, no matter when
it came. But that day she was a little faint

(32:07):
and tired. She had swallowed a light luncheon no when
she came to think of it. Between getting the children
fed and the place righted and preparing herself for the

(32:28):
shopping bout, she had actually forgotten to eat any luncheon
at all. She sat herself upon a evolving stool before
a counter that was comparatively deserted, trying to gather strength

(32:49):
and courage to charge through an eager multitude that was
besieging breastworks of shirting and figured lawn. An all gone
limp feeling had come over her, and she rested her

(33:10):
hand aimlessly upon the counter. She wore no gloves. By degrees,
she grew aware that her hand had encountered something very soothing,
very pleasant to touch. She looked down to see that

(33:35):
her hand lay upon a pile of silk stockings. A
placard nearby announced that they had been reduced in price
from two dollars and fifty cents to one dollar and

(33:56):
ninety eight cents, and a young girl who stood behind
the counter asked her if she wished to examine their
line of zilkoseeri. She smiled, just as if she had

(34:17):
been asked to inspect a tiara of diamonds with the
ultimate view of purchasing it. But she went on feeling
the soft, sheeny, luxurious things with both hands, now holding

(34:40):
them up to see them glisten, and to feel them
glide serpent like through her fingers. Two hectic blotches came
suddenly into her pale cheeks. We looked up at the girl.

(35:04):
Do you think there are any eights and a half
among these? There were any number of eights and a half.
In fact, there were more of that size than any other.

(35:25):
Here was a light blue pair, there were some lavender,
some all black, and various shades of tan and gray.
Missus Summers selected a black pair and looked at them

(35:49):
very long and closely. She pretended to be examining their texture,
which the clerk assured her was excellent. A dollar and
ninety eight cents, she mused aloud, Well, I'll take this pair.

(36:16):
She handed the girl a five dollar bill and waited
for her change and for her parcel. What a very
small parcel it was. It seemed lost in the depths
of her shabby old shopping bag Missus Summers. After that

(36:44):
did not move in the direction of the bargain counter.
She took the elevator, which carried her to an upper
floor into the region of the Lady's Way rooms. Here,
in a retired corner, she exchanged her cotton stockings for

(37:11):
the new silk ones which she had just bought. She
was not going through any acute mental process or reasoning
with herself, nor was she striving to explain to her
satisfaction the motive of her action. She was not thinking

(37:38):
at all. She seemed for the first time to be
taking a rest from that laborious and fatiguing function, and
to have abandoned herself to some mechanical impulse that directed

(38:01):
her actions and freed her of responsibility. How good was
the touch of the raw silk to her flesh. She
felt like lying back in the cushioned chair and reveling

(38:23):
for a while in the luxury of it. She did
for a little while. Then she replaced her shoes, rolled
the cotton stockings together, and thrust them into her bag.

(38:44):
After doing this, she crossed straight over to the shoe
department and took her seat to be fitted. She was
fastidious the clerk could not make her out. He could

(39:05):
not reconcile her shoes with her stockings, and she was
not too easily pleased. She held back her skirts and
turned her feet one way and her head another way.

(39:27):
As she glanced down at the polished, pointed tipped boots,
her foot and ankle looked very pretty. She could not
realize that they belonged to her and were a part

(39:49):
of herself. She wanted an excellent and stylish fit, she
told the young fellow who served her, and she did
not mind the difference of a dollar or two more
in the price, so long as she got what she desired.

(40:17):
It was a long time since Missus Summers had been
fitted with gloves. On rare occasions, when she had bought
a pair, they were always bargains, so cheap that it

(40:38):
would have been preposterous and unreasonable to have expected them
to be fitted to the hand. Now, she rested her
elbow on the cushion of the glove counter, and a

(40:59):
pretty pleasant young creature, delicate and deft of touch, drew
a long wristed kid over Missus Summer's hand. She smoothed
it down over the wrist and buttoned it neatly, and

(41:23):
both lost themselves for a second or two in admiring
contemplation of the little symmetrical gloved hand. But there were
other places where money might be spent. There were books

(41:47):
and magazines piled up in the window of a stall
a few paces down the street. Missus Summers bought two
high priced magazines, such as she had been accustomed to

(42:08):
read in the days when she had been accustomed to
other pleasant things. She carried them without wrapping as well
as she could. She lifted her skirts at the crossings.

(42:29):
Her stockings and boots and well fitting gloves had worked
marvels in her bearing, had given her a feeling of assurance,
a sense of belonging to the well dressed multitude. She

(42:52):
was very hungry. Another time she would have stilled the
cravings for food until reaching her own home, where she
would have brewed herself a cup of tea and taken
a snack of anything that was available. But the impulse

(43:20):
that was guiding her would not suffer her to entertain
any such thought. There was a restaurant at the corner.
She had never entered its doors. From the outside, she

(43:41):
had sometimes caught glimpses of spotless damask and shining crystal,
and soft stepping waiters serving people of fashion. When she entered,
her appearance created no surprise, no consternation, as she had

(44:07):
half feared it might. She seated herself at a small
table alone, and an attentive waiter at once approached to
take her order. She did not want a profusion. She

(44:28):
craved a nice and tasty bite, a half dozen blue points,
a plump chop with cress, a something sweet, a crem
frapee for instance, a glass of wine wine, and after all,

(44:55):
a small cup of black coffee. While waiting to be served,
she removed her gloves very leisurely and laid them beside her.

(45:19):

(45:40):
did not notice her, lunching at the small tables like
her own. A soft, pe leasing strain of music could

(46:03):
be heard, and a gentle breeze was blowing through the window.
She tasted a bite, and she read a word or two,

(46:25):

(46:46):

(47:09):

(47:30):

(47:51):
quite the attitude which missus Summers did to her surroundings.

(48:11):

(48:37):
they talked a little together over it. And the gaudy

(48:58):
the crowd filed out. It was like a dream ended.

(49:25):
People scattered in all directions. Missus Summers went to the

(49:47):
to decipher what he saw there. In truth, he saw
nothing unless he were wizard enough to detect a poignant wish,

(50:12):
but go on and on with her forever. As the
tale unfolds once more, let it wash over you, resonating

(50:39):
in the quiet corners of your mind. Soon we'll retrace
our steps through the corridors of this narrative, finding comfort
and familiarity in the words. Once again, Little Missus Summers

(51:05):
one day found herself the unexpected possessor of fifteen dollars
it seemed to her a very large amount of money,
and the way in which it stuffed and bulged her

(51:27):
worn old Porte Monnaie gave her a feeling of importance
such as she had not enjoyed for years. The question
of investment was one that occupied her greatly for a

(51:48):
day or two. She walked about, apparently in a dreamy state,
but really absorbed in speculation and calculation. She did not
wish to act hastily, to do anything she might afterward regret.

(52:13):
But it was during the still hours of the night,
when she lay awake revolving plans in her mind, that
she seemed to see her way clearly toward a proper
and judicious use of the money. A dollar or two

(52:40):
should be added to the price usually paid for Janie's shoes,
which would ensure their lasting an appreciable time longer than
they usually did. She would buy so and so many

(53:00):
yards of pe kale for new shirt waists for the boys,
and Jane and Mag. She had intended to make the
old ones do by skillful patching. Mag should have another gown.

(53:23):
She had seen some beautiful patterns, veritable bargains in the
shop windows, and still there would be left enough for
new stockings two pairs apiece, and what darning that would

(53:44):
save for a while, she would get caps for the
boys and sailor hats for the girls. The vision of
her little brood, looking fresh and dainty and knew for

(54:06):
once in their lives excited her and made her restless
and wakeful with anticipation. The neighbors sometimes talked of certain
better days that little Missus Summers had known before she

(54:29):
had ever thought of being Missus Summers. She herself indulged
in no such morbid retrospection. She had no time, no
second of time to devote to the past. The needs

(54:54):
of the present absorbed her every faculty. A vision of
the future like some dim, gaunt monster, sometimes appalled her,
but luckily tomorrow never comes. Missus Summers was one who

(55:21):
knew the value of bargains, who could stand for hours,
making her way inch by inch toward the desired object
that was selling below cost. She could elbow her way

(55:45):
if need be. She had learned to clutch a piece
of goods and hold it and stick to it with
persistence and determination till her turn came to be served,

(56:05):
no matter when it came. But that day she was
a little faint and tired, she had swallowed a light
luncheon no when she came to think of it. Between

(56:28):
getting the children fed and the place righted and preparing
herself for the shopping bout, she had actually forgotten to
eat any luncheon at all. She sat herself upon a
evolving stool before a counter that was comparatively deserted, trying

(56:56):
to gather strength and courage to charge through an eager
multitude that was besieging breastworks of shirting and figured lawn.
An all gone limp feeling had come over her, and

(57:17):
she rested her hand aimlessly upon the counter. She wore
no gloves. By degrees, she grew aware that her hand
had encountered something very soothing, very pleasant to touch. She

(57:40):
looked down to see that her hand lay upon a
pile of silk stockings. A placard near by announced that
they had been reduced in price from two dollars and

(58:00):
fifty cents to one dollar and ninety eight cents, and
a young girl who stood behind the counter asked her
if she wished to examine their line of silkosery. She smiled,

(58:23):
just as if she had been asked to inspect a
tiara of diamonds, with the ultimate view of purchasing it.
But she went on feeling the soft, sheeny, luxurious things

(58:45):
with both hands, now holding them up to see them
glisten and to feel them glide serpent like through her fingers.
Two hectic blotches came suddenly into her pale cheeks. She

(59:08):
looked up at the girl. Do you think there are
any eights and a half among these? There were any
number of eights and a half. In fact, there were
more of that size than any other. Here was a

(59:35):
light blue pair, there were some lavender, some all black,
and various shades of tan and gray. Missus Summers selected
a black pair and looked at them very long and close.

(01:00:02):
She pretended to be examining their texture, which the clerk
assured her was excellent. A dollar and ninety eight cents,
she mused aloud, Well, I'll take this pair. She handed

(01:00:26):
the girl a five dollar bill and waited for her
change and for her parcel. What a very small parcel
it was. It seemed lost in the depths of her shabby,
old shopping bag. Missus Summers after that did not move

(01:00:54):
in the direction of the bargain counter. She took the elevator,
which carried her to an upper floor into the region
of the lady's waiting rooms. Here, in a retired corner,

(01:01:15):
she exchanged her cotton stockings for the new silk ones
which she had just bought. She was not going through
any acute mental process or reasoning with herself, nor was

(01:01:36):
she striving to explain to her satisfaction the motive of
her action. She was not thinking at all. She seemed
for the first time to be taking a rest from

(01:01:56):
that laborious and fatiguing function, and to have abandoned herself
to some mechanical impulse that directed her actions and freed
her of responsibility. How good was the touch of the

(01:02:20):
raw silk to her flesh. She felt like lying back
in the cushioned chair and reveling for a while in
the luxury of it. She did for a little while.

(01:02:40):
Then she replaced her shoes, rolled the cotton stockings together,
and thrust them into her bag. After doing this, she
crossed straight over to the shoe department and took her

(01:03:01):
seat to be fitted. She was fastidious. The clerk could
not make her out. He could not reconcile her shoes
with her stockings. And she was not too easily pleased.

(01:03:25):
She held back her skirts and turned her feet one
way and her head another way. As she glanced down
at the polished, pointed tipped boots. Her foot and ankle

(01:03:47):
looked very pretty. She could not realize that they belonged
to her and were a part of herself. She wanted
an excellent and stylish fit, she told the young fellow

(01:04:09):
who served her, and she did not mind the difference
of a dollar or two more in the price, so
long as she got what she desired. It was a
long time since Missus Summers had been fitted with gloves.

(01:04:35):
On rare occasions, when she had bought a pair, they
were always bargains, so cheap that it would have been
preposterous and unreasonable to have expected them to be fitted

(01:04:56):
to the hand. Now, she rested her elbow on the
cushion of the glove counter, and a pretty pleasant young creature,
delicate and deft of touch, drew a long wristed kid

(01:05:19):
over Missus Summer's hand. She smoothed it down over the
wrist and buttoned it neatly, and both lost themselves for
a second or two in admiring contemplation of the little

(01:05:43):
symmetrical gloved hand. But there were other places where money
might be spent. There were books and magazines piled up
in the window of a stall a few paces down

(01:06:05):
the street. Missus Summers bought two high priced magazines, such
as she had been accustomed to read in the days
when she had been accustomed to other pleasant things. She

(01:06:26):
carried them without wrapping as well as she could. She
lifted her skirts at the crossings. Her stockings and boots
and well fitting gloves had worked marvels in her bearing,

(01:06:49):
had given her a feeling of assurance, a sense of
belonging to the well dressed multitude. She was very hungry.
Another time she would have stilled the cravings for food

(01:07:11):
until reaching her own home, where she would have brewed
herself a cup of tea and taken a snack of
anything that was available. But the impulse that was guiding
her would not suffer her to entertain any such thought.

(01:07:37):
There was a restaurant at the corner. She had never
entered its doors. From the outside, she had sometimes caught
glimpses of spotless damask and shining crystal and soft stepping

(01:07:59):
weight serving people of fashion. When she entered. Her appearance
created no surprise, no consternation, as she had half feared
it might. She seated herself at a small table alone,

(01:08:24):
and an attentive waiter at once approached to take her order.
She did not want a profusion. She craved a nice
and tasty bite, a half dozen blue points, a plump

(01:08:47):
chop with cress, a something sweet, a crem frapee for instance,
a glass of wine wine, and after all a small
cup of black coffee. While waiting to be served, she

(01:09:12):
removed her gloves very leisurely and laid them beside her.

(01:09:34):

(01:09:58):
did not notice her, lunching at the small tables like
her own. A soft, pleasing strain of music could be heard,
and a gentle breeze was blowing through the window. She

(01:10:20):
tasted a bite, and she read a word or two,

(01:10:42):

(01:11:02):

(01:11:24):

(01:11:46):

(01:12:07):
quite the attitude which Missus Summers did to her surroundings.

(01:12:28):

(01:12:54):
they talked a little together over it, and the gaudy

(01:13:14):
the crowd filed out. It was like a dream ended.
People scattered in all directions. Missus Summers went to the

(01:13:41):

(01:14:03):
to decipher what he saw there. In truth, he saw
nothing unless he were wizard enough to detect a poignant wish,

(01:14:28):
but go on and on with her forever. Have a
blessed rest, sweet dreams, good night,

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