Chapter 49 Chapter fifteen

The brakes were replaced, the water pipes cleared, the valves activated, and many other repairs and improvements paid for by the not-so-foolish but prudent Papa Humbert, so it was time to start a new one. When traveling, the late Mrs. Humbert's car looked pretty good. We made promises to Beardsley High School, the old and excellent Beardsley High School, to return as soon as my employment in Hollywood was over (I hinted that the creatively gifted Humbert as general counsel on a film about the subject, when "existentialism" was still hot).In fact, I'm figuring out how to creep across the Mexican border--I'm much braver now than I was last year--to get there and decide what to do with my little mistress, who is now sixty inches tall and weighs ninety pounds .We find travel guides and maps.She charted our course with great interest.Was it because of those theatrical activities that she had grown up a lot, out of the bored air of a teenager, and into a lovely eagerness to explore rich realities?On that dim but rather warm Sunday morning, as we left Professor Chelm's bewildered house and drove down Main Street towards the four-lane highway, I experienced a light dream.My sweetheart wore a black and white striped cotton dress, a pretty blue bonnet, and white cropped and brown moccasins on her feet, which matched the little silver necklace she wore around her neck. A large, beautifully cut aquamarine doesn't quite match: it was a spring rain gift I gave her.We passed the new restaurant and she laughed. "Say what you think, and I'll give you a penny," I said, and she immediately held out her hand, but at that moment, there was a red light ahead, and I had to slam the brakes on the car.As we pulled up, another car coasted beside us, a very striking, athletically thin young woman (where had I seen her?), with a rosy face and combed hair. A brilliant shoulder-length auburn hair, who greeted Lo with a crisp “Hi” — before turning to me emotionally, revelatoryly (distinguish!) and emphatically on certain words: "It's not right to take Lori out of the play—you should have heard what the writer said about her after that rehearsal—"

"Green light, you fool," Low said in a low voice, as Joan of Arc (who played the role in a performance we saw at the local theater) waved a braceleted arm Says goodbye to us cheerfully, then leaves us abruptly behind and turns abruptly onto Campus Avenue. "Who is it? Vermont or Lampermeyer?" "No—it's the girl Edusa Gold—taught us." "I don't mean her. Who the hell made up that play?" "Oh! Yes, of course. An old woman, Claire or something. There's a lot of them out there." "Did she praise you, then?" "Praised my eyes—she kissed my pure brow"—and then my darling broke into that new short, high-pitched laugh which—perhaps connected with her playful habits— — is her new favorite method.

"You're a queer little fellow, Lolita," I said--or something like that, "and I'm very glad you gave up that absurd stage presence. It's odd, though, that you were in the middle of the whole thing." Dropped it when the natural orgasm was only a week away. Oh Lolita, you should be careful what you let go of. I remember you gave up Ramsdale for the camp and for the drive Abandoned camp. I could name other sudden shifts in your mind. You should be careful. There are some things you should never give up. You must go on. You should try to be nice to me, Lolita You should watch your diet too. You know your thighs shouldn't be more than seventeen and a half inches in circumference. Any more than that would be fatal (I'm joking, of course) We're off now for a merry-go-round Long trip. I remember—”