NEW YEAR'S EVE
333
explained that Arthur had called and asked them all to come to
his
house because he could not come uptown to Grant's.
"Arthur thinks he has a cold," said Grant in a tone which plainly
implied that this was one more manifestation of hypochondria. To
Nicholas and Wilhelmina, Grant said,
"I am overjoyed that you
decided to come," a remark inexplicable and so much in excess of
any real need of the moment, that Nicholas and Wilhelmina were
left tonguetied, and Nicholas became anxious with the fear that some–
how Shenandoah had communicated his doubt about coming to
Grant.
As
they left the house, and looked for a taxi, Grant resumed
his argument with Oliver Jones, trying at the same time to signal a
taxi and to enlist Shenandoah in the argument. In the background,
pale, thin and nervous, stood Delia Jones, wishing that one of them
would speak to her. She was sure that no one was aware of her pre–
sence. Nicholas suffered from precisely the same feelings.
"That is the only possible explanation," he said to himself, still
preoccupied with Grant's greeting and Shenandoah's betrayal of him.
Since no one paid any attention to him, he decided to become active,
useful and prominent. He went out into the middle of the street to
hail a taxi, and finally stopped one, but at the same time his feet
became soaked as he stepped into a black puddle near the sewer. Con–
sequently Nicholas lost interest in everything but his wet feet and his
cold.
As
they seated themselves
in
the taxi, Delia Jones became very
self-conscious about the pressure of the bodies of the other human
beings, and she wished again that she had stayed at home.
When these guests arrived at the apartment house where Arthur
Harris lived, Nicholas was disturbed so much by the possibility of
pneumonia that immediately upon being introduced to Frances Harris
he asked her if he might please have a pail of hot water in which
to bathe his feet . Frances was thunderstruck by this request, but since
it seemed to have been made with the utmost seriousness, she gave
him a pail for hot water, making no comment, for she was one of
perfect tact.
The party had not become a unique kind of being
as
yet. One
reason for this was that not everyone had arrived. Yet it was already
clear that the great psychological
place
of the party was the sense of
having-nowhere-better-to-go.
In general, the guests already present suffered in one or another
way from the emotions which had distorted the newcomers. Some felt
