First published in The Countess of Lowndes Square and Other Stories, 1920
Approx. 4,600 words
(First read 30/05/2014)
A jolly little story. Our hero is a decided Georgie Type, aged 30, who lives with his sister, a decided Hermie/Ursie Type ~ while he sits and does his woolwork of an evening, she tinkers at her lathe. Tiring of his indoor and rather lonely existence, Oliver starts taking walks through the streets of London, building stories out of the shop window displays. Everything is okay to begin with: he's more cheerful and the exercise does him good. Okay, so he's living entirely in his imagination and has fallen in love with a shop mannequin (yes), which after a few weeks disappears leaving him desperate ... Eventually he ends up virtually inhabiting a certain department store where one day ...
I won't give this one away: the ending made me laugh out loud. It can be read online here.
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