Babylon revisited
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"He would come back some day they couldn’t make him pay forever." He decides that he will return and try again. He is frustrated, knowing that his opportunity has been lost. The agreement over Honoria leaving is postponed due to Marion’s distress. He goes to the Ritz bar for a drink and calls Lincoln. Their dinner is off as Marion is so disturbed by the intrusion. Wales is shocked, and Marion runs from the room. It is Duncan and Lorraine, utterly drunk, inviting Wales to dinner. Wales takes gifts to the Peters’ house and they agree that he and Honoria can leave in a few days. He is surprised at his own former irresponsibility. She recounts an incident where they stole a butcher’s tricycle and they rode it together. He finds a letter at his hotel, redirected from the Ritz, from Lorraine Quarrles, who wishes to see him again. He wakes up happy, and the Peters have agreed he can take Honoria, though they will retain legal guardianship. He hears Helen talking to him in his sleep, telling him that she wants Honoria to be with him. She had died later, after their quarrel had been resolved, but Marion still believed him to be responsible. She had arrived home alone an hour later, to find herself locked out in the snow. He left her there, went home and locked the door. She had kissed a young man when Wales had tried to take her home, and she had said something angry. Wales leaves the house and reflects on Helen’s death. She clearly blames Wales for her sister’s death. His financial situation is clearly more stable that the Peters’ and both of them are irritated that Wales should be so prosperous.įinally, Marion explodes. Wales pleads his case, saying that he does not want to miss Honoria’s childhood, and that he will be taking a French governess to care for her in Prague. She says her duty is to Helen, Honoria’s mother. Marion is direct in her interrogation of him, asking for how long he will be sober. He knows his request to take Honoria will not be a popular one. He tells them that he now only takes one drink a day, and that he has reformed from his wild days of three years ago. Honoria goes to bed, and Wales resumes his conversation with Marion and Lincoln. Honoria says that she wants to live with her father, and Wales is overjoyed. They turn up and have drinks at the interval at a table with Wales and his daughter. He turns down dinner with them, but lets them know that he and Honoria are going to the vaudeville later. They are spotted by Duncan Schaeffer and Lorraine Quarrles, who are obviously continuing the vigorous party lifestyle that Wales has abandoned. He offers to buy her toys, but she is unenthusiastic about presents. He dines with Honoria following day at Le Grand Vatel, a place he does not associate with his wilder days. He remembers the excesses of his time there, and the consequences: the loss of custody of his child and the death of his wife. He has dinner with the Peters’ and his daughter, then walks around Paris, looking at his old haunts.
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This fact seems to confirm her negative opinion of him. Wales reminisces over his experiences of Paris – “We were a sort of royalty, almost infallible.” Marion picks up on the fact that he has been in a bar and is not impressed. They discuss the declining numbers of Americans in Paris, and the Peters’ acknowledge it has made life better for them. This is in a bid to demonstrate his stability, but his boasts are poorly received.
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He boasts of his success in Prague to his brother-in-law, Lincoln. Wales then encounters his sister-in-law, whose response to him is lukewarm as she attempts to hide her distrust. He arrives at his in-law’s house in the Rue Palatine and is greeted excitedly by his nine-year-old daughter, Honoria. Wales tells the barman that he is now taking it easy There is a feeling of regret as he walks along the Left Bank, deciding that he spoiled the city for himself by behaving badly there. Wales explains he is in business in Prague and that he has returned to see his little girl. Alix tells him of the decline in fortune of his former friends. He finds the emptiness of the Ritz bar portentous, and is saddened that it is no longer the center for the Americans of Paris. Things have clearly changed in Paris since his last visit. He gives the barman his brother-in-law’s address to pass on to Mr. The story opens with Charlie Wales questioning the barman at the Ritz as to the fortunes and whereabouts of his former drinking buddies.