Town and Country Lovers

Town and Country Lovers Summary | Part 1 Summary

Dr. Franz-Josef von Leinsdorf is an Austrian geologist living and working in South Africa. He is a committed and tireless worker who, during the course of his career, has lived in several different countries. When he does take time to relax, he enjoys skiing, listening to music and reading poetry.

Dr. von Leinsdorf is unmarried. Most people describe him as good-looking and many of his female co-workers assume he has a girlfriend waiting for him back in Europe.

Because Dr. von Leinsdorf's rented garden apartment is situated across the street from a supermarket, he frequently stops there after work to buy whatever provisions he needs for his evening meal. One evening as he is checking out, he notices that the cardboard display containing his preferred brand of razor blades is empty. He brings this to the cashier's attention, but does not expect that she will be any more helpful than the other young black women who work in the market. As a result, he is pleasantly surprised when this same cashier tells him two days later that she has learned that the blades are out of stock and that she will be glad to hold two packages for him when they arrive.

The following week, Dr. von Leinsdorf is out of town on business. As he is making his way into his apartment upon his return, he becomes aware of the presence of another person. It is the cashier from the supermarket and she tells him that as promised, she has saved two packages of razor blades for him. Dr. von Leinsdorf tells the young girl that he has just returned from a long trip and he will stop by the market when he is able. Instead, the young woman offers to retrieve the razor blades for him, an offer he accepts.

Although he knows that the young women intended for Dr. von Leinsdorf to remain where he was standing while she retrieved the razor blades, he nonetheless asks her to bring them to his apartment. He gives her the number and they part ways.

When the young woman returns with the razor blades, she takes the elevator meant for the building's white residents rather than taking the one designated for the black workers. When she reaches Dr. von Leinsdorf's apartment, he offers her a tip, which she refuses. He then invites her into his apartment for a cup of coffee.

Eventually, the young woman begins bringing Dr. von Leinsdorf's groceries to him several times a week. The two have established an agreement in which he leaves his list and a key to his apartment under his doormat, which she would pick up during her lunch hour. When she returns with the groceries after work, he is sometimes home; other times, he is not.

During one of her first visits to the apartment, the girl takes notice of the various specimens occupying the shelves and tables. On another visit, she asks Dr. von Leinsdorf why he grinds beans each time he makes coffee. Dr. von Leinsdorf is amused by her question and explains that he is accustomed to drinking only fresh coffee.

One afternoon, as the girl is returning with the groceries, the building's caretaker stops her and asks why she is in the building. She explains that she works for Dr. von Leinsdorf. The caretaker, perhaps taking note of the girl's relatively light complexion, does not suggest that she take the elevator reserved for blacks. The shopping list that day included "grey button for trousers." Upon returning with the groceries, she asks Dr. von Leinsdorf for the pants so they she can sew the button. As he watches her do this, Dr. von Leinsdorf is struck by how graceful and confident she seems while completing this basic task. Realizing he is attracted to her, he reaches out to touch her and the two make love.

From that point, they spend nearly every afternoon together. After about a week, Dr. von Leinsdorf asks her to spend the night. The girl refuses saying she must return home to her mother. He asks again, saying that perhaps she can telephone her mother and explain that it is somehow necessary that she spend the night. The girl refuses - her home does not have a telephone - and again says she needs to return to her mother. When Dr. von Leinsdorf asks why it is so important that she go home, the girl explains that her mother will be afraid that some harm will come to them should their relationship be discovered. Dr. von Leinsdorf suggests that she tell her mother that he is her employer; the girl replies that she has already told the building's caretaker that she works for him.

The girl eventually does move in with Dr. von Leinsdorf. Anxious to please him, she makes certain that she grinds fresh coffee beans each time she make him a cup of coffee. She does not cook for him at first, rather, she watches him prepare some meals so that she could be sure to cook exactly what he likes. They spend most of their time in his apartment where he explains the significance of every piece of rock and stone that was there to her. Other times, he tends to his work while she watches. On Sundays, they go for drives and spend the afternoons picnicking or swimming.

Aside from their Sunday outings, they do not go out publicly. While he does not say, she assumes that he has dates for the occasions when he has dinner with colleagues or other social functions. While he is out, the girl passes the evening sewing and listening to the radio. One evening, as he is preparing to leave for a social engagement, he asks the girl if she would like to visit her family while he is out.

The girl is amazed at Dr. von Leinsdorf's ability to work into the early hours of the morning. She, on the other hand, has a hard time staying awake past dinner. Dr. von Leinsdorf explains to her that her job, although not physically demanding requires the repetitive completion of a limited number of tasks. This, he tells her, often causes fatigue. In an effort to teach her new skills to that perhaps she could get a better job, Dr. von Leinsdorf teaches the girl how to type. He also tries to improve her grammar by gently correcting her mistakes.

One evening just before the Christmas holiday, there is a knock at the apartment door. Since Dr. von Leinsdorf never has unannounced visitors, much less in the evening, a sense of dread instantly arises. The girl goes to Dr. von Leinsdorf and implores him not to answer the door. Knowing that they will have to answer it, she drags him to the bedroom and, taking some clean clothes that are lying atop the bed, she hides in the closet and asks him to lock her inside.

Once she is securely inside, Dr. von Leinsdorf goes to answer the door. When he opens it, he finds three policemen waiting. One of the policemen says they have been watching his apartment for several months and they know that he has a colored girl living there. Dr. von Leinsdorf tells them that he lives alone. Convinced that he is lying, the policemen force their way inside and begin looking for signs of the girl. When they get to the closet, they ask him for the key. Dr. von Leinsdorf tells them he left it at his office. The policemen force their way into the closet and find the girl hiding inside.

The couple is taken to the police station where they are given physical examinations. The girl spends the night in a jail cell and she is released the next morning. She is taken back to her mother by a clerk that works for the attorney that Dr. von Leinsdorf had arranged for her. She is not told where Dr. von Leinsdorf is.

The girl makes a statement that she lived with Dr. von Leinsdorf, a white man, and had intercourse with him on occasion. When the two meet again in court, they do not speak to each other. They are acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Following the court hearing, there was an article in the newspaper in which the girl is quoted as being sorry for the shame brought to her mother. One of nine children, she was forced to leave school early because there was no money for the needed supplies. In the same article, the girl's mother says she will never let her "daughter work as a servant for a white man again."