Appointment with Love is a such a sweet short story! Though the details of the origin of the story are argued about, the heart-warming tale is endearing.
Appointment with Love
Six minutes to six, said the clock over the information booth in New York’s Grand Central Station. The tall young Army officer lifted his sunburned face and narrowed his eyes to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat that choked him. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past 18 months, the woman he had never seen yet whose words had sustained him unfailingly.
He placed himself as close as he could to the information booth, just beyond the ring of people besieging the clerks…
Lieutenant Blandford remembered one night in particular, the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of Zeros. He had seen the grinning face of one of the enemy pilots.
In one of his letters, he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and only a few days before this battle, he had received her answer: “Of course you fear…all brave men do. Didn’t King David know fear? That’s why he wrote the 23rd Psalm. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me.'” And he had remembered; he had heard her imagined voice, and it had renewed his strength and skill.
He was going to hear her voice now. Four minutes to six.
A girl passed closer to him, and Lt. Blandford started. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was only about 18, and Hollis Meynell had told him she was 30. “What of it?” he had answered, “I’m 32.” He was 29.
His mind went back to that book – the book the Lord Himself must have put into his hands out of the hundreds of Army library books sent to the Florida training camp. Of Human Bondage, it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman’s writing. He had always hated that writing-in-habit, but these remarks were different. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man’s heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the bookplate: Hollis Meynell. He had got hold of a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written, she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing.
For thirteen months she had faithfully replied. When his letters did not arrive, she wrote anyway, and now he believed he loved her, and she loved him. But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained: “If your feeling for me had no reality, what I look like won’t matter. Suppose I am beautiful. I’d always be haunted that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose that I’m plain, (and you must admit that this is more likely), then I’d always fear that you were only going on writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don’t ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your own decision.”
One minute to six – Lieutenant Blandford’s heart leaped higher than his plane had ever done.
A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale green suit, she was like springtime come alive.
He started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.
“Going my way, soldier?” she murmured.
Uncontrollably, he made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.
She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump. Her thick-ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. But she wore a red rose on her crumpled coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.
Blandford felt as though he were being split in two, so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own; and there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; he could see that now. Her gray eyes had a warm, kindly twinkle.
Lieutenant Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the small worn, blue leather copy of Of Human Bondage, which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even rarer than love – a friendship for which he had been and must ever be grateful.
He squared his broad shoulders, saluted and held the book out toward the woman, although even while he spoke he felt shocked by the bitterness of his disappointment.
“I’m Lieutenant John Blandford, and you – you are Miss Meynell. I’m so glad you could meet me. May…may I take you to dinner?”
The woman’s face broadened in a tolerant smile. “I don’t know what this is all about, son,” she answered. “That young lady in the green suit – the one who just went by – begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you that she’s waiting for you in that big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of a test. I’ve got two boys with Uncle Sam myself, so I didn’t mind to oblige you.”
Wasn’t that story just lovely?! I had originally learned of it in a short film on Amazon “The Book and the Rose”, though I don’t remember the reference to Scripture being in it. If you have an Amazon Prime account you can view it for free here.
I love the moral of the story! I admire that he was determined to keep his appointment with Miss Hollis, even if she was not what he had imagined. He remembered the encouragement that she had been to him while he was away fighting and he resolved to be grateful and show kindness – even when it seemed as if the girl of his dreams was leaving in the opposite direction! Such an endearing story!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. Do you know of any stories that would be worth sharing?! I’d love it if you would tell me about them – email me at hope@theamericanlady.com. Read other stories I’ve shared here: https://www.theamericanlady.com/category/stories/
I first read this story many years ago when I was in Junior high school. The name Hollis Meynell stayed in my mind and so I was able to find the story on line. Some of the versions have been shortened, leaving out Lt. Blandford’s admission of his fears and Miss Meynell’s reference to King David and Psalm 23, but yours is the closest to the story I remember. On one website I read that the story was published originally in Collier’s Magazine in 1943, right in the middle of World War II. Readers at that time would have known that Lt. Blandford served in the Army Air Corps ( the Air Force had not yet become a separate branch of the Service) and was either a bomber or a fighter pilot. My father was an aerial gunner serving in the Pacific Theater and my uncles also served in the Air Corps. If you like, I can tell you some of the stories that my father and uncles told about the wonderful kindness that the American people showed to “their boys”, as they were called, during WWII.
Hello Margaret! This is such a wonderful story, isn’t it?! I would love to hear more stories from your father’s and uncles’ experiences! Thank you so much! -Hope