An Excerpt from THE GAIETY OF HENRY JAMES by Norman Lock

Henry traipses through Central Park in search of wood nymphs, such is the overheated condition of his fancy. He would not mind in the least being ravaged by a mythological being, so long as she alludes, at least in part, to a woman. He finds no wood nymphs, alas. Instead, he discovers Lord Baden-Powell artfully concealed in a shrubbery.

“I am Lord Baden-Powell, Companion, Order of the Bath; Grand Commander of the Order of Christ; Grand Commander of the Order of the Redeemer; Commander of the Order of the Oaken Crown; Storkos of the Order of Dannebrog; Commander of the Legion of Honor, Knight of Grace of St. John of Jerusalem; Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George; Knight Grand Cross of Alfonso XII of Spain; Knight of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and also of Amanullah, the Red Cross of Estonia, the White Lion, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword, and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars.”

He salutes the novelist, smartly, the blade of his hand disappearing under the wheeling brim of his campaign hat. Henry lifts his top hat in answer.

“I am Henry James, author of The American, Daisy Miller, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians, The Princess Casamassima, The Tragic Muse, What Maisie Knew, Spoils of Poynton, The Turn of the Screw, The Sacred Fount, The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors, The Golden Bowl and – to be left unfinished at my death – The Ivory Tower and The Sense of the Past. What brings you, sir, to Central Park?”

“I am in search of boys for the international Boy Scout movement, which I fathered.”

“I myself am in search of nymphs. I long for La belle époque.”