No. 13 Washington Square
by Leroy Scott (1875–1929)
- Free to read
- 4 hours to read
- 23 chapters
- Reading level: 7th grade
"No. 13 Washington Square" by Leroy Scott is a novel likely written in the early 20th century. The story centers around Mrs. De Peyster, a high-society matron grappling with personal turmoil as she navigates social expectations, family troubles, and the mysterious disappearance of her son, Jack. The narrative unfolds in a genteel and sometimes humorous manner, delving into themes of social status, identity, and the contradictions of upper-class life. The opening of the book introduces Mrs. De Peyster preparing for a trip abroad while anxiously awaiting news of her son, Jack, who has mysteriously gone missing. As she talks with her cousin Olivetta and her secretary Miss Gardner, her composed demeanor begins to crack, revealing an undercurrent of anxiety and concern. This sets the stage for the family's complex dynamics and foreshadows the adventurous and potentially scandalous events that will unfold, including interactions with reporters and the intriguing social rivalries that surround them. The scene is rich with character development and builds a foundation for the unfolding drama.
- Washington Square (New York, N.Y.)
Read the opening
Chapter I
THE GREAT MRS. DE PEYSTER
It was a raw, ill-humored afternoon, yet too late in the spring for the ministration of steam heat, so the unseasonable May chill was banished from Mrs. De Peyster's sitting-room by a wood fire that crackled in the grate; crackled most decorously, be it added, for Mrs. De Peyster's fire would no more have forgotten itself and shown a boisterous enthusiasm than would one of her admirably trained servants. Beside a small steel safe, whose outer shell of exquisite cabinet-work transformed that fortress against burglarious desire into an article of furniture that harmonized with the comfortable elegance of a lady's boudoir, sat Mrs. De Peyster herself—she was born a De Peyster—carefully transferring her jewels from the trays of the safe to leathern cases. She looked quite as Mrs. De Peyster should have looked: with an aura of high dignity that a sixty-year-old dowager of the first water could not surpass, yet with a freshness of person that (had it not been for her dignity) might have made her early forties seem a blossomy thirty-five.
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About this edition
This free edition of No. 13 Washington Square by Leroy Scott comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #13844, released 2004-10-24. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Humour, Novels, American Literature.
Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).
