adapted from The Wrong Black Bag
by Angelo Lewis
It was the New Year holiday. Within the modest foyer of Primrose Terrace a little man, wearing a gray felt hat and a red neck-tie, stood admiring himself in the mirror. The little man was Benjamin Quelch, clerk in the office of Cobble & Clink, coal merchants. Most men have some secret desire; Benjamin's was twofold. For years he had yearned to wear a soft felt hat and to make a trip to Paris, and for years Mrs. Quelch had stood in the way and prevented this indulgence. He himself was of a meek and retiring disposition. Mrs. Quelch, on the other hand, was a woman of stern and decided temperament. She controlled Benjamin's finances and regulated his diet. Though fond of him in her own way, she ruled him with a rod of iron, and on two points she was inflexible. To make up for his small stature, she insisted he wear the tallest hat; secondly, she would allow him only black silk neckties. She had further an intense dislike for all things foreign, believing that no good thing was to be found on other than English soil. When Benjamin once, in a rash moment, suggested a trip to Boulognea city in Northern Fance, by way of summer holiday, the suggestion was received in a manner that took away his appetite for a week afterward.
And thus, it came to pass that, on the evening of our story, Benjamin Quelch, having completed his packing, stood before the looking-glass and contemplated his guilty splendor, the red necktie and the soft gray felt hat, purchased out of surplus funds. He had expended a couple of guineas in a second-class return ticket, and another two pounds in "coupons," entitling him to bed, breakfast, and dinner for five days at certain specified hotels in Paris. His only regret, as he gazed at himself in the glass was that he had not had time to grow a mustache, the one thing needed to complete his artistic appearance. But time was fleeting, and he dared not linger over the enticing picture. He stole along the passage, and softly opened the street door, and as he did so a sudden panic came over him, and he felt half inclined to abandon his rash plan. But he looked at the detested tall hat hanging in the passage, and he hesitated no longer. He left and started at a brisk pace for Victoria station.
9
Mrs. Quelch can be best described as
A.
cheerful.
B.
affectionate.
C.
bitter.
D.
rigid.