THATwinterRobertCohnwentovertoAmericawithhisnovel,anditwasacceptedbyafairlygoodpublisher.HisgoingmadeanawfulrowIheard,andIthinkthatwaswhereFranceslosthim,becauseseveralwomenwerenicetohiminNewYork,andwhenhecamebackhewasquitechanged.HewasmoreenthusiasticaboutAmericathanever,andhewasnotsosimple,andhewasnotsonice.Thepublishershadpraisedhisnovelprettyhighlyanditratherwenttohishead.Thenseveralwomenhadputthemselvesouttobenicetohim,andhishorizonshadallshifted.Forfouryearshishorizonhadbeenabsolutelylimitedtohiswife.Forthreeyears,oralmostthreeyears,hehadneverseenbeyondFrances.Iamsurehehadneverbeeninloveinhislife.
Hehadmarriedonthereboundfromtherottentimehehadincollege,andFrancestookhimonthereboundfromhisdiscoverythathehadnotbeeneverythingtohisfirstwife.Hewasnotinloveyetbutherealizedthathewasanattractivequantitytowomen,andthatthefactofawomancaringforhimandwantingtolivewithhimwasnotsimplyadivinemiracle.Thischangedhimsothathewasnotsopleasanttohavearound.Also,playingforhigherstakesthanhecouldaffordinsomerathersteepbridgegameswithhisNewYorkconnections,hehadheldcardsandwonseveralhundreddollars.Itmadehimrathervainofhisbridgegame,andhetalkedseveraltimesofhowamancouldalwaysmakealivingatbridgeifhewereeverforcedto.
Thentherewasanotherthing.HehadbeenreadingW.H.Hudson.Thatsoundslikeaninnocentoccupation,butCohnhadreadandrereadThePurpleLand.ThePurpleLandisaverysinisterbookifreadtoolateinlife.ItrecountssplendidimaginaryamorousadventuresofaperfectEnglishgentlemaninanintenselyromanticland,thesceneryofwhichisverywelldescribed.Foramantotakeitatthirty-fourasaguide-booktowhatlifeholdsisaboutassafeasitwouldbeforamanofthesameagetoenterWallStreetdirectfromaFrenchconvent,equippedwithacompletesetofthemorepracticalAlgerbooks.Cohn,Ibelieve,tookeverywordofThePurpleLandasliterallyasthoughithadbeenanR.G.Dunreport.Youunderstandme,hemadesomereservations,butonthewholethebooktohimwassound.Itwasallthatwasneededtosethimoff.Ididnotrealizetheextenttowhichithadsethimoffuntilonedayhecameintomyoffice.
本小章还未完~.~，请点击下一页继续阅读后面精彩内容！