Marriage a la Mode

Marriage a la Mode Summary | Detailed Summary

Marriage a la Mode is the brief story of a 1920s English husband and wife, viewed through the husband's perspective of their life and the changes that he finds unsettling. William is on his way to the train station for the ride home when he remembers that he has not bought any gifts for his two children, Paddy and Johnny. The last several times he has brought them sweets, which they bemoan in favor of something more unique, but they have every toy imaginable, and his creativity lags.

William remembers how Isabel, his wife, looked at him when he told her that, as a child, his only toy was an old towel with a knot at one end. William remembers her laugh and notes that it is a decidedly new laugh that she uses today.

Upon seeing a fruit cart, William's dilemma of gifts for the boys is solved; he will take a pineapple for Paddy and a melon for Johnny. Settling into his train seat with the awkward bundle, William watches his companions stow away their briefcases and golf clubs. With dispassionate eyes, William watches the scenery go by, including a red-faced girl running alongside the train in a vain attempt to catch it.

Soon, the passing scenery changes to a more pleasant view with rolling fields and a river in which children splash. William's thoughts drift to Isabel. William can imagine her in any setting and in his mind she always greets him with such delight and attention. William isn't sure what is happening lately, but Isabel isn't the same woman he married. William feels like a stranger in their home.

When challengekd, Isabel adamantly denies that her new friends are changing her love for him, but William cannot help but feel a darkness settling over their marriage and his soul. If only he and Isabel had not gone to that party hosted by Moira Morrison where Isabel was introduced to these new friends with their new ways of thinking, perhaps things would be different. It wasn't too long after that party that Isabel announced the house she shared with William was too small and undignified and he finds himself in a new house where he cannot find the life he used to know.

The train is nearing his stop now and while William puts away his papers, he thinks about the wonderful holidays he used to spend with Isabel and their boys. William winces when he thinks how Isabel would chastise him for his sentimentality now.

William's heart leaps a bit when he sees Isabel standing alone at the station but his joy is short lived when he realizes that several of her new friends are waiting in the car. They had been gathering a few items to take with them for the weekend at William and Isabel's house by the sea.

Isabel chides William for his choice of fruit for the boys and encourages him to bring appropriate treats the next time. Paddy and Johnny are asleep when the adults arrive home, so William's plans to play with them are sidelined. Isabel and the others head off for a swim but, William stays behind to walk through his house where he finds odd pieces of art and smudged poems on crumbled papers. Each time he returns home, there is something new that is supposed to be artistic, but it offends his senses just the same.

William can hear the others coming back now from the water and it is apparent that they have been discussing what to do with him and Isabel asks them to be nice to William, because he'll be leaving again tomorrow night. They realize that William has overheard their conversation and they flood him with greetings in an attempt to cover up the rudeness.

Isabel and her friends discuss whether to dress for dinner, given that some of them are too hungry to wait for formalities. They try to engage William in conversation, but as soon as the appetizers and wine are open, he is completely forgotten in favor of the topic of the color of one's legs when they are under water.

Isabel is the perfect hostess smiling all the while she manages the courses of the casual meal and she wishes that Bill, who is a painter, would paint the scene for posterity but he declines because the light is not quite right. After the meal, there is more meaningless conversation until all their yawns signal the time to retire for the night.

The first opportunity William has alone with his wife is when she waits with him for his taxi on Sunday afternoon. Isabel has made a comic attempt to carry his suitcase when she sees him struggling downstairs with it, so they walk in silence until she can put the case down at the end of the walk. Eyeing the horizon on the road, Isabel halfheartedly mentions that she had not had much time to see William this weekend, and promises that the next time will be better.

Her relief at the sight of the arriving cab is almost palpable. Isabel apologizes that Paddy and Johnny are out with their nanny and asks William to take care of himself in London this week. With a little kiss, she waves goodbye and disappears back into the house.

The sense of darkness coming over William in his train car cannot be alleviated by the pastoral scene rolling outside his window, and he decides to write to Isabel.

Monday morning finds Isabel and her friends lounging in lawn chairs, shielded from the sun by pastel colored umbrellas, their drowsy demeanors punctuated only by sleep and thoughts of the lunch menu. When the postman rides up, the group is happy for the distraction but there is only one letter--the one for Isabel from William.

When Isabel reads the letter, she does not know William's motives, and the group implores her to read it to them. Without hesitation, she begins to read William's love letter, which declares that he has no intent to restrict her happiness. Isabel continues, and her guests mimic William's sincerity and laugh whole heartedly at the sentimental lines.

Suddenly Isabel can't bear their laughing and she runs into the house and into her bedroom with the letter crushed in her hand. Isabel can hear her friends' derision ringing in her ears and feels an overwhelming protectiveness toward William. Isabel chastises herself for having betrayed his confidence to them.

While she cries into her pillow at her shame, Isabel feels that the whole world knows how shallow she is; even this bedroom knows the secret of her superficial vanity. The shouts of her friends from outside her window rouse her from her reverie and she must decide to immediately write to William and declare her love or go swimming with them.

Deciding that the letter would be too hard to compose, Isabel vows to do it some other time and runs down the stairs laughing with her new laugh.