Dearer Than a Car

A well-furnished apartment living room high in Manhattan on a late spring afternoon, warm golden sun through half-open venetian blinds, an upholstered armchair, a tall cabinet of warm brown walnut veneer with two smooth front doors, below them seven horizontal round wooden rods across the speaker opening, three fine grooves down each side, the lid raised, inside it a mirror in a rounded frame showing a soft blue-grey pattern of concentric circles and wedges from an upright picture tube below, at the left a small panel with a blank dial with plain marks and four dark knobs, a hand in a pale silk sleeve turning one knob, the inner lid plain and smooth.