The Fountainhead: Ellsworth M. Toohey: 1-2

Roark is cutting granite at a quarry owned by Francon. It's an exhausting job. He likes it.

Dominique is spending the summer at a family mansion three miles from the quarry. She stays there alone, interacting with no one except the caretaker and his wife. Sometimes she hears blasting from the quarry.

One hot day Dominique walks to the quarry. She espies a redheaded laborer, a manly man. He sees her. They don't speak, but there is crack-a-blam! a connection. She desires him and hates him because she desires him. Miss Francon is thawing.

She comes back to the quarry a few times, always looking covertly for the red-headed worker. One time she encounters him close up, and she asks him why he is working there. He: For the money.

Dominique decides that to reclaim her freedom she must stop going to the quarry. She strikes up acquaintance with her neighbors and starts going to parties. One night a man taking her home tries to get fresh. She is repulsed.

She has protected herself by staying away from Red. But it would be even more exciting to be near him, so that she can test her resistance. She needs a pretext to bring him into her lair. There is a white marble slab in front of the fireplace in her bedroom. She takes a hammer and beats away at the slab with all her might. Eventually there is a noticeable scratch in the surface.

She goes to the quarry and looks up the redhead. Dominique: Would you like to earn some extra money? Redhead: Sure. Dominique: At my mansion, the marble in front of one of the fireplaces is broken. I need the stone taken out and a replacement ordered. Come tonight. Use the servants' entrance.

Red comes to the mansion, caked with dust from the quarry. Dominique points out the "broken" slab. Red has a look, takes out a hammer and chisel, sets the chisel in the scratch, and strikes once with the hammer. The marble splits. Now it's broken for real. While breaking up and removing the marble, he lectures her on types of marble. He also comments that the fireplace is poorly designed. (By Guy Francon.) He will order a replacement stone to be delivered to her home. She pays him a dollar and he leaves.

Every day Dominique waits feverishly for the marble. One day it arrives. She sends a note to the quarryman: The stone is here; I want it put in tonight. She gets a note back: It will be done.

That night Dominique is beside herself with anticipation, but instead of Red, a short Italian shows up. She: Why are you here? He: Red sent me to fix-a you fireplace. She: Oh! Uh, of course! Uh, go right ahead.

She is furious and terrified; she knows she's hooked. She is able to hold off several days but eventually goes on horseback to the quarry. He's not there. Furious, she finds a small tree branch, strips off the leaves, and whips her horse, racing hither and yon through the countryside. Then she happens upon the redhead, walking home from work. She stops. Dominique: Why didn't you come to fix the fireplace? Red: Surely it didn't make any difference who finished the work—or did it? (She hears: underline, triple question mark, triple exclamation point.) She slaps his face with the improvised quirt and rides off.

Three days later, Dominique is in her bedroom late at night when Red shows up, enters through the open French windows, and proceeds to have his rough way with her. She resists but does not cry out. After he leaves, she drags herself to the bathroom, but decides not to bathe because she wants to keep traces of him on her as long as possible.

Eww.

Some days later, Roark receives a letter from Roger Enright, the oil baron who wants to build an apartment building. Enright is still looking for an architect (and presumably has no idea his functionary had dismissed Roark long ago), and he has spent some time hunting down the designer of the Fargo store. Please come to New York! Roark is on a train within the hour. He is surprised to find himself thinking idly about Dominique. This is the first time in his life he has ever thought about another human being.

Dominique learns the redhead has quit his job at the quarry and left. She is relieved, in a way, that she never learned the man's name. If she knew who he was, she would feel compelled to track him down. If he remains a stranger, she is safe.

Okay, so as soon as I praise the quality of The Fountainhead, what should come up but two chapters of suds. I have to go rinse now.