This side of paradise
Amory
Blaine
inherited
from
his
mother
every
trait
,
except
the
stray
inexpressible
few
,
that
made
him
worth
while
.
His
father
,
an
ineffectual
,
inarticulate
man
with
a
taste
for
Byron
and
a
habit
of
drowsing
over
the
Encyclopedia
Britannica
,
grew
wealthy
at
thirty
through
the
death
of
two
elder
brothers
,
successful
Chicago
brokers
,
and
in
the
first
flush
of
feeling
that
the
world
was
his
,
went
to
Bar
Harbor
and
met
Beatrice
O'Hara
.
In
consequence
,
Stephen
Blaine
handed
down
to
posterity
his
height
of
just
under
six
feet
and
his
tendency
to
waver
at
crucial
moments
,
these
two
abstractions
appearing
in
his
son
Amory
.
For
many
years
he
hovered
in
the
background
of
his
family
's
life
,
an
unassertive
figure
with
a
face
half-obliterated
by
lifeless
,
silky
hair
,
continually
occupied
in
"
taking
care
"
of
his
wife
,
continually
harassed
by
the
idea
that
he
did
n't
and
could
n't
understand
her
.
But
Beatrice
Blaine
!
There
was
a
woman
!
Early
pictures
taken
on
her
father
's
estate
at
Lake
Geneva
,
Wisconsin
,
or
in
Rome
at
the
Sacred
Heart
Convent
--
an
educational
extravagance
that
in
her
youth
was
only
for
the
daughters
of
the
exceptionally
wealthy
--
showed
the
exquisite
delicacy
of
her
features
,
the
consummate
art
and
simplicity
of
her
clothes
.
A
brilliant
education
she
had
--
her
youth
passed
in
renaissance
glory
,
she
was
versed
in
the
latest
gossip
of
the
Older
Roman
Families
;
known
by
name
as
a
fabulously
wealthy
American
girl
to
Cardinal
Vitori
and
Queen
Margherita
and
more
subtle
celebrities
that
one
must
have
had
some
culture
even
to
have
heard
of
.
She
learned
in
England
to
prefer
whiskey
and
soda
to
wine
,
and
her
small
talk
was
broadened
in
two
senses
during
a
winter
in
Vienna
.
All
in
all
Beatrice
O'Hara
absorbed
the
sort
of
education
that
will
be
quite
impossible
ever
again
;
a
tutelage
measured
by
the
number
of
things
and
people
one
could
be
contemptuous
of
and
charming
about
;
a
culture
rich
in
all
arts
and
traditions
,
barren
of
all
ideas
,
in
the
last
of
those
days
when
the
great
gardener
clipped
the
inferior
roses
to
produce
one
perfect
bud
.
In
her
less
important
moments
she
returned
to
America
,
met
Stephen
Blaine
and
married
him
--
this
almost
entirely
because
she
was
a
little
bit
weary
,
a
little
bit
sad
.
Her
only
child
was
carried
through
a
tiresome
season
and
brought
into
the
world
on
a
spring
day
in
ninety-six
.
When
Amory
was
five
he
was
already
a
delightful
companion
for
her
.
He
was
an
auburn-haired
boy
,
with
great
,
handsome
eyes
which
he
would
grow
up
to
in
time
,
a
facile
imaginative
mind
and
a
taste
for
fancy
dress
.
From
his
fourth
to
his
tenth
year
he
did
the
country
with
his
mother
in
her
father
's
private
car
,
from
Coronado
,
where
his
mother
became
so
bored
that
she
had
a
nervous
breakdown
in
a
fashionable
hotel
,
down
to
Mexico
City
,
where
she
took
a
mild
,
almost
epidemic
consumption
.
This
trouble
pleased
her
,
and
later
she
made
use
of
it
as
an
intrinsic
part
of
her
atmosphere
--
especially
after
several
astounding
bracers
.
So
,
while
more
or
less
fortunate
little
rich
boys
were
defying
governesses
on
the
beach
at
Newport
,
or
being
spanked
or
tutored
or
read
to
from
"
Do
and
Dare
,
"
or
"
Frank
on
the
Mississippi
,
"
Amory
was
biting
acquiescent
bell-boys
in
the
Waldorf
,
outgrowing
a
natural
repugnance
to
chamber
music
and
symphonies
,
and
deriving
a
highly
specialized
education
from
his
mother
.
"
Amory
.
"
"
Yes
,
Beatrice
.
"
(
Such
a
quaint
name
for
his
mother
;
she
encouraged
it
.
)
"
Dear
,
do
n't
think
of
getting
out
of
bed
yet
.
I
've
always
suspected
that
early
rising
in
early
life
makes
one
nervous
.
Clothilde
is
having
your
breakfast
brought
up
.
"
"
All
right
.
"
