Two days later, on a Saturday afternoon, Lionel left after lunch, walked through the Luxembourg Gardens, and arrived at the fountain near the Senate building—
He had arranged to meet Sophie there to go to Rue de Richelieu together to buy a typewriter.
Today, Sophie had arrived early.
She wore a dark blue wool dress with a grey woolen overcoat, a white silk scarf tied at her neck, standing gracefully.
Seeing Lionel, a warm smile immediately bloomed on her face, her sapphire-blue eyes like the clear sky above the Seine.
Lionel embraced her:
"Have you been waiting long?"
Sophie shook her head:
"I just arrived myself."
Then, she linked her arm through Lionel's:
"Why the sudden urge to buy a typewriter today? Your handwriting speed is already astonishing."
Lionel, with her arm in his, walked towards Rue de Richelieu:
"Efficiency. When inspiration strikes, quill and ink always feel too sluggish.
'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is nearing its end, and I have a new long novel concept in mind; I need greater speed."
At this hour, Rue de Richelieu was already awake.
Lawyers and clerks hurried by, briefcases tucked under their arms; apprentices from publishing houses carried tall stacks of proof sheets; booksellers removed their shutters, revealing shelves packed with books…
The air was filled with the scent of paper, ink, and leather.
They soon found their destination—a shop with a prominent facade, where several typewriters were conspicuously displayed in the window.
A striking slogan was also posted:
"Remington No. 2! The Writing Revolution! As swift as lightning, as clear as an engraving!"
The black signboard bore the name "Dupré's Office Art Gallery" in calligraphic script.
Lionel pushed open the shop door and stepped inside; a brass bell on the door frame rang crisply.
A middle-aged man with slicked-back hair was carefully polishing a typewriter with a soft cloth.
Hearing the bell, he looked up, saw two young people, gave a slight nod, and then returned his attention to the cloth in his hand.
Lionel paid it no mind, walking directly to the display counter, while Sophie curiously observed this 19th-century high-tech product.
She looked with interest at the somewhat strangely arranged round keys, softly enunciating the letters on them:
"Q, W, E, R, T, Y… this order is so peculiar."
The shop owner, unable to tolerate the customers' ignorance regarding this treasure, put down his cloth and walked over.
Dupré spoke in a calm, reserved tone:
"Good day, sir, madam, I am Dupré. It seems you two are interested in this 'writing piano'?
This is the latest model of the Remington No. 2 typewriter, just imported from America; throughout Paris, and indeed all of France, only I have it!"
Lionel nodded:
"Tell me about it!"
The owner glanced at Lionel, seemingly assessing that this young man lacked the purchasing power.
He patted the typewriter:
"Sir! This is a epoch-making advancement! Look at this body—all metal, sturdy and durable, nothing like those flimsy wooden frames. And most importantly, this—"
He pressed a key on the left side of the typewriter:
"The Shift key! See it?
Press it, then strike a letter key, and you'll type a capital letter! Release it, and it's lowercase!
One machine, equivalent to two in the past! Think of it, sir, what a great convenience this is when writing official documents or contract titles!"
Dupré spoke, all the while observing Lionel's expression, expecting to see amazement or confusion, but the other man merely listened calmly, which somewhat disappointed him.
He decided to "increase the dose":
"And this keyboard layout, the QWERTY arrangement, is supremely scientific! Personally designed by Mr. Sholes—
I'm sure you both must be curious why these letters are arranged so ingeniously, rather than in A-B-C order?
The profound principles contained within are not something an ordinary person can comprehend…"
Sophie frowned slightly, displeased with the owner's attitude, but just as she was about to speak, Lionel gently patted the back of her hand.
Lionel calmly began:
"The QWERTY layout was designed to address the mechanical flaws of the typewriter…"
The arrogance on Dupré's face instantly froze.
Lionel's tone remained calm:
"Typewriters work by key levers striking characters onto paper. If typed too quickly, the typebars of adjacent or frequently used letters easily collide and jam during their return, actually reducing efficiency.
Therefore, the typebars for the most frequently occurring letter combinations needed to be spread out in the layout, for instance, separating T and H, and placing E and R later in the sequence.
This reduces the likelihood of typebar collisions and jams, improving typing speed and operational reliability. Am I correct?"
For a moment, the shop was so quiet that only the faint sound of carriages from the street outside could be heard.
Dupré's mouth hung open, his eyes wide and round:
"You… how do you… this… this is information almost only known internally at the factory… Are you an engineer?"
Lionel smiled slightly, not answering, merely tapping the Shift key:
"The design of this shift key is indeed ingenious, truly great!
It would be even better if it had a Ctrl key…"
The owner shed all his contempt and called out to the back of the shop:
"Marie! Please come out and demonstrate how to type for this distinguished gentleman!"
A young female shop assistant emerged, around twenty years old, with a delicate face, dressed in a neat white shirt and a black long skirt, appearing smart and capable.
The owner eagerly brought a stack of typing paper and carbon paper, showing off to Lionel:
"Sir, look, with this carbon paper, a single strike can produce two or three identical copies simultaneously.
For documents that need to be archived or distributed to many departments, it's simply a godsend!"
Miss Marie skillfully rolled the paper into the platen, adjusted its position, then hovered her hands above the keyboard, ready to begin the demonstration.
The owner asked ingratiatingly:
"Sir, what content would you like her to type?"
Lionel, however, smiled gently at Miss Marie:
"Thank you, no need to trouble you. May I try it myself?"
Miss Marie and the owner were stunned once again.
The owner hesitated:
"Sir, this machine requires some skill to operate, perhaps Marie should…"
Lionel still insisted:
"Please, let me try."
The owner had no choice but to motion for Miss Marie to step aside.
Lionel stood before the typewriter, taking a deep breath.
He had hastily tried it a few times on Alice's machine two days prior.
Although the layout of a computer keyboard is almost identical to a typewriter keyboard, the feel, force required, and mechanical structure are entirely different.
He habitually poised his ten fingers over the "F" and "J" keys—
Even though the keycaps of this era did not have the tactile bumps for blind typing that would appear later.
The owner and Miss Marie watched his strange starting posture with confusion.
Then, Lionel began to strike the keyboard.
His movements were at first a bit clumsy, the force not well controlled; sometimes too light, making the characters blurry, sometimes too heavy, producing a loud "clack."
But soon, he seemed to find his rhythm, his fingers moving faster and faster across the round keycaps.
"Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack… Ding!"
Lionel pulled the side lever when changing lines, producing a crisp bell sound.
The rhythmic clatter echoed through the shop, astonishingly fast!
The eyes of the owner and Miss Marie grew wider and wider, as if they had seen a ghost.
Miss Marie was the fastest typist in the shop, but she had to constantly look down at the keyboard, and her speed was nowhere near that of the young man before them!
He… he barely looked at the keyboard at all!
After typing a short passage, Lionel pulled the platen handle to retract the paper for inspection.
Typewriters of this era had a "blind typing" design; the typebars struck the paper from below, so the typist could not directly see the characters just typed while inputting.
Only by retracting the paper could errors be checked.
In the passage he had just typed, there were a few spelling errors and some blurry ink marks due to uneven force.
The owner leaned closer, and seeing the smooth, neat text, his mouth once again formed an O shape.
Lionel pointed to the paper:
"The typing speed is indeed very fast; this is a huge leap forward. However, one cannot see the text instantly while typing, and it lacks common French letters like é, è, à, û, and ù, requiring accent marks to be added manually…"
With each point he made, another layer of sweat appeared on the owner's forehead…
(End of Chapter)