CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Edna's father came to New Orleans for several days in order to buy a wedding present for his daughter and to purchase a nice suit for himself. Although he and Edna were not very close, they enjoyed one another's company. And Edna liked having a visitor in the house. It was a nice change.

Soon after Edna's father arrived, she led him to her painting room and asked him to model for her. He sat down in a chair and sat up very straight, looking very much like the military man that he had been years before.

One night, Edna took her father to a musical party being held at the Ratignolle's home. Mr Pontellier did not go along because he thought such parties were only for artists. He went to the men's club instead.

Edna's father was treated as the most important guest at the party. Madame Ratignolle acted as though she found the old man very attractive. She spoke to him often and praised him in all sorts of ways. By the end of the night, Edna's father felt like a young man again. Edna could not behave in the same way as Adèle toward men. She found a couple of the men at the party attractive. After talking with them during a break in the music, she found that they were quite nice and interesting. However, she never once thought to behave like a young girl toward them, in order to make them want her.

Edna found her father interesting. And for the first time in her life, she felt something almost like closeness to him. And yet, closeness was probably not the correct word. They did not share any of their deepest feelings with one another, but she did feel that she understood a little more about him than she had ever before. She said nothing to him about her problems with her husband. She spent most of the time providing her father with whatever it was he wanted or needed. Usually, this meant serving him drinks. She thought it was kind of fun to serve him.

On Thursday, when Doctor Mandelet joined them for dinner, he could not see any of the sadness that Mr Pontellier had talked about in his office. She seemed very excited and full of energy. She had taken her father to the horseracing track earlier that day. The two of them continued to talk about it throughout the meal.

After observing her for a while, however, the doctor did find Edna to be different from before. He felt that it was a positive change. She seemed to be more alive. She seemed happier.

A small argument arose between Edna's father and Mr Pontellier, because Pontellier did not like horse racing. Edna supported her father's arguments and seemed to enjoy doing so. After a while, things calmed down and people began to tell stories about their past or things that they had heard.

Edna's story was about a woman who ran away with her lover one night by boat, and was never seen or heard from again. It was not a true story. She had totally made it up on her own. However, she lied and told the men at the table that she had heard it from Madame Antoine. Everyone felt that her story sounded very real and beautiful. She told it well and with emotion.

Later that night when the doctor left the Pontellier home, he found himself regretting that he had come. He felt that he was too old to be going out. And he did not like learning about people's secrets. He whispered to himself as he got into his taxi, "Let's just hope that it's not a man that I know."

(end of section)