The Great Man's Lady Page #2

and leave me alone.

You come back

in a hundred years

and I'll talk to you.

You go along now.

Hmm.

One of the meanest things

about growing old.

You forget how important

everything seems

to young people.

Hey, girl.

Scat. Go on.

I'm all right.

I'll go now.

Nothing of the sort.

Listen, I have something

very special upstairs.

Twenty-year-old stuff.

Now, come on.

We'll have our own drink

to Senator Hoyt.

Over here.

Now you give me a hand.

That's a girl.

I'm as wiry

as the devil,

mind you,

but a climb

gets me down.

That's a girl.

You know, girl,

you need more gumption

and spirit.

Yes, that's what

you need.

Oh!

Where'd you say

you learned about

Ethan Hoyt?

Books.

You'll never learn

a man out of books.

Or a woman either.

Books.

Psst.

Ah, yes, girl.

Men were different

in those days.

Men like Ethan.

A drink in one hand,

and luck in the other.

Open the door, girl.

There was a band

playing in his heart

and the devil

in his eyes.

And I...

I was a very young lady

in a stuffy

Philadelphia house.

In the year 1848.

Well, I must say.

What's the matter?

Making a public spectacle

of yourself.

Mama says...

Oh, don't be stuffy.

Did you see

how he smiled?

A gentleman

would never

have dared.

You mean, like

my Mr. Cadwallader?

Mama says...

Because I dare say

he's never smiled

in his whole life.

But I almost died laughing

when he proposed to me.

"Miss Sempler, I...

"I have the great honor

to address myself

to your favor.

"I am quite willing

to overlook the fact

"that you have grown up

without a mother

"to instruct you

in the duties

of a proper wife.

"But your father and I

are thoroughly agreed

that..."

That's not right

and proper.

What's not?

Making fun of the man

you're betrothed to marry.

Oh, rats!

He's really betrothed

to my father.

Hannah Sempler...

Well, they made

the agreement, not I.

Parents know better.

How do I look?

I think he likes me.

Who?

Ethan Hoyt, of course.

Hannah Sempler!

Well, he smiled,

didn't he?

He always smiles.

Every time I see him,

he smiles.

That's because

he's a ne'er-do-well.

A what?

It means he lives

with the Indians...

Mama says...

...and smells dreadful

like a buffalo.

Prove it.

He makes his clothes

from dead animals.

Oh, that isn't buffalo.

It's all the same.

Well, then I think buffalos

must smell lovely,

like the fresh air

and the sun.

Where are you going?

Downstairs.

But you can't.

Why not?

He's down there.

That's why I'm going.

Where are you going, honey?

Downstairs.

Don't you go

in the library.

Why not?

There's a big private

confabulation in there.

But, Delilah,

I need a book.

You gonna need two books

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