“I heard in the morning news that Acquilla had to go to New Orleans,”
she said with a significant smile, “and stole this opportunity for a
tête-à-tête.”
“You were casual enough last night,” I remarked, trying to assume an
indifference that my racing pulse violently denied.
“You forget that Acquilla was present,” replied Dianne, looking at me
tenderly. “But first, go to the direction box and press the button that
is illuminated by a green fight. That is the isolator. There is no need
of anyone listening in on our conversation. You’ve done it? Good. Now
we can lunch together--just by ourselves.”
“Lunch? But where are you, my delightful but capricious friend?”
“I? In Chicago.”
“But then?”
“True, you are still a barbarian, Bogardus. But I find a certain charm
in that,” she added with one of those appraising smiles with which
women in my day used to suggest that the approach to intimacy need not
be unnecessarily prolonged. “Well, to explain to you the simplest thing
in the world; have your lunch served before you, I will do the same and
we shall talk as we eat. You look surprised? Why, I often lunch with
friends in Paris or Vienna.”
Now as a matter of pride I had promised myself to show no astonishment,
whatever I discovered in my new experience. But this time I was caught
as flat as a country bumpkin translated to the complexities of the
metropolis. To hide my confusion I turned and gave my orders to Mag,
who received them with such evident ill-humor that I had to speak to
her sharply. The table was brought. I sat down and so complete was the
illusion that my fascinating companion appeared to be seated across it
enjoying my bewilderment.
Of all the innovations which I had encountered so far, I must say that
this one pleased me the most; for not only were you free to select
or leave your company at a moment’s impulse, but each was assured of
the menu he preferred. What terrors of the society I had known could
have been eliminated by this simple device! To recover my authority, I
leaned forward and said:
“My dear Dianne, there is one thing must be understood between us.
There is no use telling you that I adored you from the moment I saw
you. And I am going to be bold enough to say that I felt at once the
attraction was mutual. However, I refuse to be treated like--well, like
what you call a man today. In other words I forbid _you_ to make love
to _me_,” I concluded with a smile.
Dianne’s eyes opened wide, she drew back and then craned forward
eagerly.
“How exciting! Of course, in your day it _was_ the man who pursued.”
“And I want it distinctly understood that I _am_ a man of my day and
not a spineless dehydrated invertebrate your civilization has probably
made of my noble sex.”
Dianne’s glance met the ardor of my gaze without yielding, but I was
gratified to observe a pleasant convulsive shudder of her adorable
shoulders.
“How strange, but how thrilling! Go on, Bogardus,” she said. It was not
so much feminine coquetry as a feline curiosity.
“We shall see,” I thought, “if the old instincts are entirely gone.”
“My adorable Dianne,” I continued. “This is quite the most alluring way
of staging a romance one could imagine. In my day, it was the telephone
which supplied the thrills. But how simple and primitive compared to
this.”
“How interesting--but of course to us this is a commonplace.”
“Then I have the advantage over you. I assure you I am already
head over heels in love. Was anything ever more delightful or more
tantalizing? I sit here. I look into your lovely eyes. I hear your
charming voice. I watch every graceful movement of your body and when I
reach out my hand, you elude me. What wouldn’t our coquettes have given
to possess such a power of mystification!”
“Bogardus, were you run after by lots of women?” said Dianne.
I reflected. I did not wish to appear too modest. After all, history
was as I chose to create it and this feeling I must confess gave me an
extraordinary assurance.
“In my day, your sex pretended to be the courted, though a great many
satirists insisted the opposite was true. However, I was never exactly
lonely.”
“How strange to hear a man talk like this, but go on. I like it, though
it gives me a funny feeling when you look at me so boldly.”
“Dianne,” I said, beginning to lose my head a little. “You, a great
artist should know great loves. Scientifically and socially, I
confess, you have done miracles, but what have you not lost in the
conquest--laughter and love!”
“But Bogardus dear--”
“Stop. It is impossible to give a sentimental note to the name of
Bogardus--”
“I confess it is rather a mouthful.”
“My name for sentimental purposes is Jack.”
“Jack,” she repeated, lingering over the sound.
“I have even been called Jacko.”
Dianne clapped her hands.
“How delightful. But Jacko, my dear--laughter--what do you mean by
laughter? Is it those funny faces you made a while ago?”
“Laughter,” I said majestically, “was undoubtedly the invention of the
first man who challenged the phantoms of the gods who oppressed him.
Laughter is the will to be happy despite all the sorrow and suffering
life is afflicted with. It is man’s triumph over his destinies.”
“But we have done away with sorrow and suffering.”
“True!” I said, struck by the thought. “Perhaps without tears, laughter
_is_ impossible.”
“Can’t you teach me to laugh, Jacko?”
“It is possible,” I said, struck by a sudden inspiration. “Tonight we
shall see.”
Dianne’s expression changed swiftly.
“Dear, it was specially about tonight I wanted to warn you--”
“I know. Acquilla is jealous.”
“How quick you are. Does she suspect your true feelings?”
“She is suspicious, but I flatter myself--”
“Be careful, be extremely careful. Acquilla wants you for herself.”
“What of it?” I replied, shrugging my shoulders. “After all, Acquilla
is a woman of seventy-six and youth must be served!”
“True, but Acquilla is implacable and if she even suspected that you
were going to escape her--”
“Well, even then?” I asked anxiously as Dianne hesitated.
“I must tell you all the truth,” said Dianne making up her mind
abruptly. “For you should be warned. You see, your arrival has caused
a tremendous commotion. For Bogar--for Jacko, you are not like the men
of today. You represent another civilization. You are so resplendently
what men must have been. And just now that is very dangerous, dangerous
to you!”
“Why?”
“Because in the last ten years, there has grown up a new radical school
that is preaching the rehabilitation of men.”
“What--Votes for Men?”
“Exactly. You see how disturbing your arrival is to the powers that
be. You will be brought before the Supreme Council--I know for a fact
that already they have been deliberating over your case. Be on your
guard when you are questioned--” Dianne stopped and leaning forward
plunged her glance into mine. “Be careful for my sake.”
“Now you are making love to me, which is contrary to orders,” I said
smiling. “But what danger do I run?”
“You could be suppressed as a menace to society.”
“Murdered, or if you wish, executed?”
“Oh, no, but you would be returned to the Frigidrome and sent into
another century.”
“I see, an ingenious way of abolishing capital punishment.” But despite
my bravado, I felt the beginnings of uneasiness. “Is the situation
really so serious?”
“Yes. For already the male suffrage movement is a problem. Acquilla
has tremendous power. She can protect you so long as she is personally
interested--”
“I understand. To tell the truth, my instincts did warn me.”
“You see. Be careful, dear, be very careful.”
“Say ‘for my sake’ again,” I said, looking at her boldly, “but drop
your eyes as you say it.”
Dianne glanced at me in surprise, her glance wavered a moment and then
fell away.
“What a strange effect you have on me,” she said in a low voice.
“Say it,” I repeated insistently as I felt my growing power.
“For my sake, dearest,” she said in a whisper.
“Ah, my darling Dianne,” I cried, “if only I could jump through space
and snatch you up in my arms this very moment.”
Dianne raised her eyes and again averted them.
“Truly, dear, you have the weirdest effect on me. I have never known
anything quite--quite like this before.”
“Dianne darling, I promise you that you will know what love once meant
between man and woman,” I continued impulsively. “Not your eugenic,
cold-blooded matings, but the love that stirs and tortures you, the
love that is pleasure and pain, that is madness and ecstasy, that takes
its moment and accepts the price, whatever it has to pay.”
I stretched out my hands and Dianne’s lovely fingers, as her flushed
face turned to me, seemed already to yield to my clasp, when suddenly
with a click, the whole mirage vanished before my eyes. The door opened
and Mag came in.
“Acquilla is just returning,” she said looking at me sulkily. “Quick.
Keep her outside, while I get the table out of sight.”
From which, I gathered that certain primitive instincts still persisted
and that Mag, after the tradition of servants, had been listening at
the door.