After the Party

Bess: I say, who’s the boy I’ve been dancing with most of the time? He introduced himself but I didn’t catch the name.

Julie: Do you mean the lean stooping fellow with an awkward gait, a piercing look and a mop of sandy hair?

Bess: The one I mean isn’t like that at all. He’s tall and slender with a graceful carriage, earnest eyes and smooth blond hair.

Julie: So that’s the way he strikes you, isn’t it? Well, that’s Will, my first cousin.

Bess: Is he? Julie, say honestly, do you really find him as plain as you’ve made him out?

Julie: I was just joking. Will takes after his father, my uncle Alex, who is still very handsome, even though bald and rather stern-looking.

Bess: And as to his stooping, it was natural when dancing with a small person like myself, so much shorter than he, wasn’t it?

Julie: Well, it’s funny, but Will came up to me and asked: ‘Who’s that little bright-eyed girl with dimples in her cheeks?’

Bess: He didn’t!

Julie: He did. And he said you were the prettiest girl here.

Bess: He can’t possibly have meant it. Jane was certainly the beauty of the party.

Julie: Jane? Don’t make me laugh. Perhaps she wouldn’t look so bad if she hadn’t put on so much weight. As it is, she’s positively fat and looks rather old for her age.

Bess: No, not fat, she’s just plump. And she has wonderfully regular features and a lovely complexion.

Julie: Lovely complexion indeed! With all that powder and lipstick on you don’t see much of her natural complexion. Anyhow, I quite agree with Will that you’re much more attractive than Jane, especially now, when you wear your hair shoulder length parted in the middle.

Bess: Nice of you to say that.

Julie: Would you care to come and see me next Saturday? I’ll invite Will and two or three other girls and boys.

Bess: I’d love to, I’ll be looking forward to it. And now I’m off. Goodbye for the present.

Julie: See you again soon.

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY