Of receptions and deceptions…

Atlas Shrugged – Day 040 – pp. 389-398

And on and on he’d ramble. About how good Dagny, his “ruthless, conceited bitch” of a sister and Hank Rearden and all the rest of them are at making money. Why wouldn’t they acknowledge his spiritual superiority.

Don’t know Jim.  Maybe if you were living in a monastery. . . but you’re president of a railroad.

Cherryl on the other hand, really had no idea what he is talking about. She does see that he’s in pain, however, and her youthful sympathy, like finding a rabbit or something equally cuddly caught in a trap makes you cry, draws her to him.

Actually did more than that.

His confidence made her think she owed him. He tried to give her money once, but she forcefully rebuked it. She told him if he wanted to help her, he could try to help her get a better job. The kind of ambition that he had no idea how to deal with.

Later at a party at the home of Jim’s former hook-up Betty Pope, she heard all manner of anti-Jim whisperings.

“Jim Taggart is one of the most powerful men in Washington at the moment.”

That would explain a lot of jealousy. Cherryl thinks they talk about Jim because they envy him. They do. Only not like Cherryl thinks.

It was after that party that he sprung the question.

“What would you say if I asked you to marry me?”

Somehow I think Hank or Francisco would deliver the same question differently. And the rest, as they say. . . is history.

From the time of the announcement, she had been hounded by the media. Thrust into a world she was little able to comprehend much less defend herself in.

‘Listen kid,” the sob sister said to her, . . . “You think that if one gets hurt in life, it’s through one’s own sins — and that’s true, in the long run. But there are people who’ll try to hurt you through the good they see in you — knowing that it’s the good, needing it and punishing you for it. Don’t let it break you when you discover that.”

Good advice.

So the wedding’s done and we’re at the reception. I love moving straight to the bar.

And anyone who’s no one is there. And a someone or two.

Orren Boyle and Bertram Scudder to name two.

“But both, unknown to the other, were drawing a mental chart of the faces they saw, classifying them under two headings which , if named, would have read” Favor” and “Fear.” There were men whose presence signified a special protection extended to James Taggaart, and men whose presence confessed a desire to avoid his hostility — those who represented a hand lowered to pull him up, and those who represented a back bent to let him climb.”

A great presentation of the picture — then and today. Probably for always.

A lengthy exchange between Orren and Jim suggest that they’re no longer on the best terms. Jim appears to have made some enemies. What was once an “all for one” attitude in establishing the plan of national domination sees to have discovered that there ain’t quite enough to go around for everybody. Suddenly, it had become more “every man for himself.”

Orren Boyle is reminding him that if you’re going to climb to the top by horse trading and deception, you’d better have a shitload of it if you’re going to stay there.

Cherryl in the meantime is watching Jim, wondering why some people were talking to her about Washington in “hopeful” tones.

And then she saw her.

“. . .she saw the enemy. It was a tall slender figure in a gray evening gown, who was not her sister-in-law. . . . The pressure of anger in Cherryl’s mind was the stored accumulation of the sounds of Jim’s tortured voice. . . . Cherryl waited, until she saw Dagny sanding alone, then tore forward, cutting resolutely across the room.”

You go girl.

“There’s something I want you to know,” said Cherryl, her voice taut and harsh, “so that there won’t be any pretending about it. I’m not going to put on the sweet relative act. I know what you’ve done to Jim and how you’ve made him miserable all his life. I’m going to protect him agains you. I’ll put you in your place. I’m Mrs. Taggart. I’m the woman in this family now.”

“That’s quite alright,” said Dagny. “I’m the man.”

OOOWWWWWWWW. Poor Cherryl. Not in Dagny’s class. Not even in her zip code. . .

And who else has arrive. . .

“Rearden stood by Lillian’s side and followed here when she moved. She wished to be seen with her husband; he was complying.”

Lillian drifted away and he retreated to a corner to avoid all the vapid conversation and Stepford wife posturing – male and female.

But Lillian’s not aimlessly wandering. She’s making her way to Jim.

“He stopped and waited to let her approach. He could not guess her purpose, but this was the manner which, in the code he understood, meant that he had better hear her.”

“How do you like my wedding gift, Jim?”

To be continued. . .