لكن كان صديقه السيد دارسي، هو الذي سرعان ما جذب انتباه الحجرة كلها بسبب طول قامته، و وجهه الوسيم و التعبير الرائع المرتسم عليه. و انتشر خبر في الأنحاء، بعد أقل من خمس دقائق من دخوله الغرفة، بأن لديه دخل بعشرة آلاف في السنة. قررت الماجدات بسرعة بأنه أوسم بكثير من السيد بنجلي و نظرن إليه بإعجاب عظيم طيلة نصف الأمسية حتى قررن بأنه رجل متكبر جدًا، و أن لا شيء يمكن أن يسرّه و لم يبدُ أنه يستمتع بالرقص. عندئذ لم تنقذه كل نقوده و لا نظراته من أن يكون غير بهيج في أعينهن، أو من أن يكون أقل جاذبية بكثير من صديقه.
What was in them was promise. They dealt in transformations; they suggested an endless series of possibilities, extending like the reflections in tow mirrors set facing one another, stretching on replica after replica, to the vanishing point. They suggested one adventure after another, one wardrobe after another, on improvement after another, one man after another. They suggested rejuvenation, pain overcome and transcended, endless love. The real promise in them was immortality.
Gilead was, although undoubtedly patriarchal in form, occasionally matriarchal in content, like some sectors of the social fabric that gave rise to it. As the architects of Gilead knew, to institute an effective totalitarian system or indeed any system at all you must offer some benefits and freedoms, at least to a privileged few, in return for those you remove.
What you see is what you get, zits and all. But you aren't expected to love him. You'll find that out soon enough. Just do your duty in silence. When in doubt, when flat on your back, you can look at the ceiling. Who knows what you may see, up there? Funeral wreaths and angels, constellations of dust, stellar or otherwise, the puzzles left by spiders. There's always something to occupy the inquiring mind. Is anything wrong, dear? the old joke went. No, why? You moved. Just don't move. What