New York - The Novel

what was his interest in Mary? He wasn’t sure yet. He’d been quite surprised at the studio when he’d suddenly realized how beautiful she was. As that cascade of dark hair had fallen against the pale skin of her neck, he’d observed that she had a flawless complexion. How come he’d never noticed before? He’d imagined what she might look like unclothed. All kinds of possibilities had occurred to him. He’d been intrigued.
    His sister’s friend, the young woman he’d known since he was a boy, turned out to be a Celtic beauty. She always seemed so prim and proper, but looks could be deceptive. What did she really think?
    Even if she gave him the chance to discover, there were difficulties. Apart from the usual risks, he wasn’t sure how Gretchen would feel about it. Mary had a brother, too—quite a dangerous fellow, he believed. Theodore had taken his chances with angry husbands before, but all the same, he’d have to be careful.
    In any case, there couldn’t be any harm in his spending a pleasant day or two with his sister out on Coney Island. The business with Mary might, or might not, come to anything. He’d just wait and see what happened.

    “Lots of people have taken up bathing recently,” said Gretchen.
    “Doctors say salt water’s bad for the skin,” Mary objected.
    “We won’t go in for long,” Gretchen promised.
    There were some bathing huts on wheels by a sand dune, where people could change. They inspected one of them. It didn’t smell very nice, and they were glad they’d left their clothes in the safety of the inn. Looking along the beach, Mary could see about a dozen people, some way off, standing stiffly in the surf, probably just as uncertain about this newfangled enterprise as she was. She took a deep breath. Then, taking Gretchen’s proffered hand, she allowed herself to be led down the beach and into the sea.
    The water felt sharp and cold on her ankles. She gave a tiny intake of breath.
    “Come on,” said Gretchen. “It won’t bite.”
    Mary took a few steps more. The water came up to her knees now. Just then, a little wave rose up, washing past her and covering the lower part of her thighs for several seconds, causing her to give out a little cry. Then she felt the bottom of her bathing dress, suddenly heavy with water, clamp down coldly above her knees, while the legs of her pantaloons clung wetly to her flesh. She gave a shiver.
    “Walk with me,” said Gretchen. “It won’t feel cold in a moment.”
    “Yes it will,” laughed Mary, but she did as Gretchen said, and pushed her legs through the heavy water, as it enveloped her waist. And soon she realized that Gretchen was right. The water didn’t feel cold, once you got used to it, though she was aware that the bathing dress she was wearing was probably heavy enough to sink her now, if she lost her footing.
    She was glad that on her left there was support at hand, if she needed it. From the shallows out into the deep water ran a line of stout posts, spaced about ten feet apart and linked by a thick rope, like a sort of breakwater. Holding onto the rope, bathers could work their way slowly out into the sea without fear of missing their footing or being swept away. Further out, the line of posts ran parallel to the beach, enclosing the bathers in a large pen. Mary didn’t quite see the point of this until, when the water was almost up to her chest, a larger wave came in from the ocean and carried her off her feet. Struggling to keep her head above water, she was surprised to find that the ebb carried her away from the beach, and she realized the barrier was there to prevent her being taken out to sea.
    “Take my hand,” said Gretchen, and pulled her back into shallower water. “I said we’d go bathing,” she remarked with a smile, “not that we’d swim.” And glancing along the shoreline, Mary could see that most of theother bathers were standing contentedly about in the shallows, where the water hardly reached their waists.
    So that is what she and Gretchen did. It was quite agreeable, feeling the cool of the water on her legs, and the sun on her face, and the salty sea breeze. The only thing she didn’t like was that the wet wool of her bathing dress felt heavy, and scratched her skin a little. Then they sat at the edge of the beach with their legs in the shallows, so that the little waves broke over them, and tiny shells jostled, and the ebbing sand made a funny feeling on her legs each time the