menu_book Chapter 5

eighteen ninety one collection by various section five miss mansty's view by edith wharton as first published in scrivener's magazine july eighteen ninety one the view from mrs mansty's window was not a striking one but to her at least it was full of interest and beauty mrs mansty occupied the back room on the third floor of a new york boarding-house in a street where the ash barrels lingered late on the sidewalk and the gaps in the pavement would have staggered a quintus courteous she was the widow of a clerk in a large wholesale house and his death had left her alone for her only daughter had married in california and could not afford the long journey to new york to see her mother mrs mansty perhaps might have joined her daughter in the west but they had now been so many years apart that they had ceased to feel any need of each other's society and their intercourse had long been limited to the exchange of a few perfunctory letters written with indifference by the daughter and with difficulty by mrs mansty whose right hand was growing stiff with gout even had she felt a stronger desire for her daughter's companionship

mrs mansty's increasing infirmity which caused her to dread the three flights of stairs between her room and the street would have given her pause on the eve of undertaking so long a journey and without perhaps formulating these reasons she had long since accepted as a matter of course her solitary life in new york she was indeed not quite lonely for a few friends still toiled up now and then to her room but their visits grew rare as the years went by mrs mansty had never been a sociable woman and during her husband's lifetime his companionship had been all sufficient to her for many years she had cherished a desire to live in the country to have a hen-house and a garden but this longing had faded with age leaving only in the breast of the uncommunicative old woman a vague tenderness for plants and animals

it was perhaps this tenderness which made her cling so fervently to her view from her window a view in which the most optimistic eye would at first have failed to discover anything admirable mrs mansty from her coin of vantage a slightly projecting bow-window where she nursed an ivy and a succession of unwholesome-looking bulbs looked at first upon the yard of her own dwelling of which however she could get but a restricted glimpse still her gaze took in the topmost bows of the allianthus below her window and she knew how early each year the clump of dysentra strung its bending stock with hearts of pink but of greater interest were the yards beyond being for the most part attached to boarding-houses they were in a state of chronic untidiness and fluttering on certain days of the week with miscellaneous garments and frayed tablecloths in spite of this mrs mansty found much to admire in the long vista which she commanded

some of the yards were indeed but stony wastes with grass in the cracks of the pavement and no shade in spring save that afforded by the intermittent leafage of the clothes-lines these yards these yards mrs mansty disapproved of but the others the green ones she loved she had grown used to their disorder the broken barrels the empty bottles and paths unswept no longer annoyed her hers was the happy faculty of dwelling on the pleasanter side of the prospect before her in the very next enclosure did not a magnolia open its hard white flowers against the watery blue of april and was there not a little way down the line a fence foamed over every may by lilac waves of wistaria farther still a horse-chestnut lifted its candelabra of buff and pink blossoms above broad fans of foliage while in the opposite yard june was sweet with the breath of a neglected syringa which persisted in growing in spite of the countless obstacles opposed to its welfare

but if nature occupied the front rank in mrs mansty's view there was much of a more personal character to interest her in the aspect of the house and their inmates she deeply disapproved of the mustard-coloured curtains which had lately been hung in the doctor's window opposite but she glowed with pleasure when the house farther down had its old bricks washed with a coat of paint the occupants of the houses did not often show themselves at the back windows but the servants were always in sight noisy slatterns mrs mansty pronounced the greater number she knew their ways and hated them but to the quiet cook in the newly painted house whose mistress bullied her and who secretly fed the stray cats at nightfall mrs mansty's warmest sympathies were given on one occasion her feelings were wracked by the neglect of a housemaid who for two days forgot to feed the parrot committed to her care on the third day mrs mansty in spite of her gouty hand

had just penned a letter beginning madam it is now three days since your parrot has been fed when the forgetful maid appeared at the window with a cup of seed in her hand but in mrs mansty's more meditative moods it was the narrowing perspective of far-off yards which pleased her best she loved at twilight when the distant brown stone spire seemed melting in the fluid yellow of the west to lose herself in vague memories of a trip to europe made years ago and now reduced in her mind's eye to a pale phantasmagoria of indistinct stables and dreamy skies perhaps at heart mrs mansty was an artist at all events she was sensible of many changes of colour unnoticed by the average eye and dear to her as the green of early spring was the black lattice of branches against a cold sulphur sky at the close of a snowy day

she enjoyed also the sunny thaws of march when patches of earth showed through the snow like ink-spots spreading on a sheet of white blotten paper and better still the haze of boughs leafless but swollen which replaced the clear-cut tracery of winter she even watched with a certain interest the trail of smoke from a far-off factory chimney and missed a detail in the landscape when the factory was closed and the smoke disappeared mrs mansty in the long hours which she spent at her window was not idle she read a little and knitted numberless stockings but the view surrounded and shaped her life as the sea does a lonely island when her rear collars came it was difficult for her to detach herself from the contemplation of the opposite window washing or the scrutiny of certain green points in a neighbouring flower-bed which might or might not turn into hyacinths

while she feigned an interest in her visitor's anecdotes about some unknown grandchild mrs mansty's real friends were the denizens of the yards the hyacinths the magnolia the green parrot the maid who fed the cats the doctor who studied late behind his mustard-coloured curtains and the confidant of her tender musings was the church spire floating in the sunset one april day as she sat in her usual place with knitting cast aside and eyes fixed on the blue sky mottled with round clouds a knock at the door announced the entrance of her landlady mrs mansty did not care for her landlady but she submitted to her visits with lady-like resignation to-day however it seemed harder than usual to turn from the blue sky and the blossoming magnolia to mrs samson's unsuggestive face and mrs mansty was conscious of a distinct effort as she did so the magnolia is out earlier than usual this year mrs samson she remarked

yielding to a rare impulse for she seldom alluded to the absorbing interests of her life in the first place it was a topic not likely to appeal to her visitors and besides she lacked the power of expression and could not have given utterance to her feelings had she wished to the what mrs mansty inquired the landlady glancing about the room as if to find there the explanation of mrs mansty's statement the magnolia in the next yard in mrs black's yard mrs mansty repeated is it indeed i didn't know there was a magnolia there said mrs mansty carelessly mrs mansty looked at her she did not know there was a magnolia in the next yard by the way mrs samson continued speaking of mrs black reminds me that the work on the extension is to begin next week the what it was mrs mansty's turn to ask the extension said mrs samson nodding her head in the direction of the ignored magnolia you knew of course that mrs black was going to build an extension to her house yes ma'am i hear it is to run right back to the end of the yard

how she can afford to build an extension in these hard times i don't see but she always was crazy about building she used to keep a boarding house in seventeenth street and she nearly ruined herself then by sticking out bow windows and what not i should have thought that would have cursed her of building but i guess it's a disease like drink anyhow the work is to begin on monday mrs mansty had grown pale she always spoke slowly so the landlady did not heed the long pause which followed at last mrs mansty said do you know how high the extension will be that's the most absurd part of it the extension is to be built right up to the roof of the main building now did you ever mrs mansty paused again won't it be a great annoyance to you mrs sampson she asked i should say it would but there's no help for it if people have got a mind to build extensions there's no law to prevent em that i'm aware of

mrs mansty knowing this was silent there is no help for it mrs sampson repeated but if i am a church member i wouldn't be so sorry if it ruined eliza black well good day mrs mansty i'm glad to find you so comfortable so comfortable so comfortable left to herself the old woman turned once more to the window how lovely the view was that day the blue sky with its round clouds shed a brightness over everything the ailanthus had put on a tinge of yellow-green the hyacinths were budding the magnolia flowers looked more than ever like rosettes carved in alabaster soon the mustaria would bloom then the horse-chestnut but not for her between her eyes and them a barrier of brick and mortar would swiftly rise presently even the spire would disappear and all her radiant world be blotted out

mrs mansty sent away untouched the dinner-tree brought to her that evening she lingered in the window until the windy sunset died in bat-coloured dusk then going to bed she lay sleepless all night early the next day she was up and at the window it was raining but even through the slanting grey gauze the scene had its charm and then the grain was so good for the trees she had noticed the day before that the ailanthus was growing dusty of course i might move said miss mansty aloud and turning from the window she looked about her room she might move of course so might she be flayed alive but she was not likely to survive either operation the room though far less important to her happiness than the view was as much a part of her existence she had lived in it seventeen years she knew every stain on the wall paper every rent in the carpet the light fell in a certain way on her engravings

her books had grown shabby on their shelves her bulbs and ivy were used to their window and knew which way to lean to the sun we are all too old to move she said that afternoon it cleared wet and radiant the blue reappeared through torn rags of cloud the ailanthus sparkled the earth in the flower borders looked rich and warm it was thursday and on monday the building of the extension was to begin on sunday afternoon a card was brought to mrs black as she was engaged in gathering up the fragments of the boarders dinner in the basement the card black-edged for mrs mansty's name one of mrs sampson's borders wants to move i suppose well i can give her a room next year in the extension dinah said mrs black tell the lady i'll be upstairs in a minute mrs black found mrs mansty standing in the long parlour garnished with statuettes and antimacassars in that house she could not sit down

stooping hurriedly to open the register which let out a cloud of dust mrs black advanced on her visitor i'm happy to meet you mrs mansty take a seat please the landlady remarked in her prosperous voice the voice of a woman who can afford to build extensions there was no help for it mrs mansty sat down is there anything i can do for you ma'am mrs black continued my house is full at present but i am going to build an extension it is about the extension that i wish to speak said mrs mansty suddenly i am a poor woman mrs black and i have never been a happy one i shall have to talk about myself first to-to make you understand mrs black astonished but imperturbable bowed at this parenthesis i never had what i wanted mrs mansty continued it was always one disappointment after another for years i wanted to live in the country i dreamed and dreamed about it but we never could manage it there was no sunny window in our house and so all my plants died my daughter married years ago and went away besides she never cared for the same things

then my husband died and i was left alone that was seventeen years ago i went to live at mrs sampson's and i have been there ever since i have grown a little infirm as you see and i don't get out often only on fine days if i am feeling very well so you can understand my sitting a great deal in my window the back window on the third floor well mrs mansty said mrs black liberally i could give you a back room i dare say one of the new rooms and the x but i don't want to move i can't move said mrs mansty almost with a scream and i came to tell you that if you build that extension i shall have no view from my window no view do you understand mrs mansty gasped mrs black thought herself face to face with a lunatic and she had always heard that lunatics must be humoured dear me dear me she remarked pushing her chair back a little way

that is too bad isn't it why i never thought of that to be sure the extension will interfere with your view mrs mansty you do understand mrs mansty gasped of course i do and i'm real sorry about it too but there don't you worry mrs mansty i guess we can fix that all right mrs mansty rose from her seat and mrs black slipped toward the door what do you mean by fixing it do you mean that i can induce you to change your mind about the extension oh mrs black listen to me i have two thousand dollars in the bank and i could manage i know i could manage to give you a thousand if mrs mansty paused the tears were rolling down her cheeks there there mrs mansty don't you worry repeated mrs black soothingly i am sure we can settle it i am sorry that i can't stay and talk about it any longer but this is such a busy time of day with supper to get her hand was on the door-knob but with sudden vigor mrs mansty seized her wrist

you are not giving me a definite answer do you mean to say that you accept my proposition why i'll think it over mrs mansty certainly i will i wouldn't annoy you for the world but the work is to begin to-morrow i am told mrs mansty persisted mrs black hesitated it shan't begin i promise you that i'll send word to the builder this very night mrs mansty tightened her hold you are not deceiving me are you she said no no stammered mrs black how can you think such a thing of me mrs mansty slowly mrs mansty's clutch relaxed and she passed through the open door one thousand dollars she repeated pausing in the hall then she let herself out of the house and hobbled down the steps supporting herself on the cast-iron railing my goodness exclaimed mrs black shutting and bolting the hall door i never knew the old woman was crazy and she looked so quiet and ladylike too

mrs mansty slept well that night but early the next morning she was awakened by a sound of hammering she got to her window with what haste she might and looking out saw that mrs black's yard was full of workmen some were carrying loads of brick from the kitchen to the yard others beginning to demolish the old-fashioned wooden balcony which adorned each story of mrs black's house mrs mansty saw that she had been deceived at first she thought of confiding her trouble to mrs sampson but a subtle discouragement soon took possession of her and she went back to bed not caring to see what was going on toward afternoon however feeling that she must know the worst she rose and dressed herself it was a laborious task for her hands were stiffer than usual and the hooks and buttons seemed to evade her when she seated herself in the window she saw that the workmen had removed the upper part of the balcony and that the bricks had multiplied since morning one of the men a coarse fellow with a bloated face

picked a magnolia blossom and after smelling it threw it to the ground the next man carrying a load of bricks trod on the flower in passing look out jim called one of the men to another who was smoking a pipe if you throw matches around near those barrels of paper you'll have the old tinder-box burning down before you know it and mrs mansty leaning forward perceived that there were several barrels of paper and rubbish under the wooden balcony at length the work ceased and twilight fell the sunset was perfect and a roseate light transfiguring the distant spire lingered late in the west when it grew dark mrs mansty drew down the shades and proceeded in her usual methodical manner to light her lamp she always filled and lit it with her own hands keeping a kettle of kerosene on a zinc-covered shelf in a closet

as the lamp-light filled the room it assumed its usual peaceful aspect the books and pictures and plants seemed like their mistress to settle themselves down for another quiet evening and mrs mansty as was her wont drew up her arm-chair to the table and began to knit that night she could not sleep the weather had changed and a wild wind was abroad blotting the stars with close-driven clouds mrs mansty rose once or twice and looked out of the window but of the view nothing was discernible save a tardy light or two in the opposite windows these lights at last went out and mrs mansty who had watched for their extension began to dress herself she was in evident haste for she merely flung a thin dressing-gown over her nightdress and wrapped her head in a scarf then she opened her closet and cautiously took out the kettle of kerosene having slipped a bundle of wooden matches into her pocket she proceeded with increasing precautions to unlock her door

and a few moments later she was feeling her way down the dark staircase led by a glimmer of gas from the lower hall at length she reached the bottom of the stairs and began the more difficult descent into the utter darkness of the basement here however she could move more freely as there was less danger of being overheard and without much delay she contrived to unlock the iron door leading into the yard a gust of cold wind smote her as she stepped out and groped shiveringly under the clothes-line that morning at three o'clock an alarm of fire brought the engines to mrs black's door and also brought mrs sampson's startled boarders to their windows the wooden balcony at the back of the back of mrs black's house was ablaze and among those who watched the progress of the flames was mrs mansty leaning in her thin dressing-gown from the open window the fire however was soon put out and the frightened occupants of the house who had fled in scant attire resembled at dawn to find that little mischief had been done beyond the cracking of window-panes and smoking of ceilings

in fact the chief sufferer by the fire was mrs mansty who was found in the morning gasping with pneumonia a not unnatural result as every one remarked of her having hung out of an open window at her age in a dressing-gown it was easy to see that she was very ill but no one had guessed how grave the doctor's verdict would be and the faces gathered that evening about mrs sampson's table were awestruck and disturbed not that any of the boarders knew mrs mansty well she kept to herself as they said and seemed to fancy herself too good for them but then it is always disagreeable to have any one dying in the house and as one lady observed to another it might just as well have been you or me my dear but it was only mrs mansty and she was dying as she had lived lonely if not alone the doctor had sent a trained nurse and mrs sampson with muffled step came in from time to time but both to mrs mansty seemed remote and unsubstantial as the figures in a dream

all day she said nothing but when she was asked for her daughter's address she shook her head at times the nurse noticed that she seemed to be listening attentively for some sound which did not come then again she dozed the next morning at daylight she was very low the nurse called mrs sampson and as the two bent over the old woman they saw her lips move lift me up out of bed she whispered they raised her in their arms and with her stiff hand she pointed to the window oh the window she wants to sit in the window she used to sit there all day mrs sampson explained i could do her no harm i suppose nothing matters now said the nurse they carried mrs mansty to the window and placed her in her chair the dawn was abroad a jubilant spring dawn the spire had already caught a golden ray though the magnolia and horse-chestnut still slumbered in shadow in mrs black's yard all was quiet the charred timbers of the balcony lay where they had fallen it was evident that since the fire the builders had not returned to their work

the magnolia the magnolia had unfolded a few more sculptural flowers the view was undisturbed it was hard for mrs mansty to breathe each moment it grew more difficult she tried to make them open the window but they would not understand if she could have tasted the air sweet with a penetrating alanthus save it would have eased her but the view at least was there the spire was golden now the heavens had warmed from pearl to blue day was alight from east to west even the magnolia had caught the sun mrs mansty's head fell back and smiling she died that day the building of the extension was resumed mrs mansty's view by edith