"Why, you're in the dark here!" she exclaimed impatiently, and impatiently switched on several lights. "Sorry I'm late, G.J.," she said perfunctorily, without taking any trouble to put conviction into her voice. "How have you two been getting on?"
Then, towards the door:
"Come in, come in, Dialin."
A young soldier with the stripe of a lance-corporal entered, slightly nervous and slightly defiant4.
"And you, Miss I-forget-your-name."
A young woman entered; she had very red lips and very high heels, and was both more nervous and more defiant than the young soldier.
"This is Mr. Dialin, you know, Con2, second ballet-master at the Ottoman. I met him by sheer marvellous chance. He's only got ten minutes; he hasn't really got that; but he's going to see me do my Salome dance."
Lady Queenie made no attempt to introduce Miss I-forget-your-name, who of her own accord took a chair with a curious, dashed effrontery5. It appeared that she was attached to Mr. Dialin. Lady Queenie cast off rapidly gloves, hat and coat, and then, having rushed to the bell and rung it fiercely several times, came back to the chaise-longue and gazed at it and at the surrounding floor.
"Would you mind, Con?"
Concepcion rose. Lady Queenie, rushing off again, pushed several more switches, and from a thick cluster of bulbs in front of a large mirror at the end of the room there fell dazzling sheets of light. A footman presented himself.
"Push the day-bed right away towards the window," she commanded.
The footman inclined and obeyed, and the lance-corporal superiorly helped him. Then the footman was told to energise the gramophone, which in its specially6 designed case stood in a corner. The footman seemed to be on intimate terms with the gramophone. Meanwhile Lady Queenie, with a safety-pin, was fastening the back hem7 of her short skirt to the front between the knees. Still bending, she took her shoes off. Her scent8 impregnated the room.
"You see, it will be barefoot," she explained to Mr. Dialin.
The walls of London were already billed with an early announcement of the marvels9 of the Pageant10 of Terpsichore, which was to occur at the Albert Hall, under the superintendence of the greatest modern English painters, in aid of a fund for soldiers disabled by deafness. The performers [198] were all ladies of the upper world, ladies bearing names for the most part as familiar as the names of streets—and not a stage-star among them. Amateurism was to be absolutely untainted by professionalism in the prodigious11 affair; therefore the prices of tickets ruled high, and queens had conferred their patronage12.
Lady Queenie removed several bracelets13 and a necklace, and, seizing a plate, deposited it on the carpet.
"That piece of bread-and-butter," she said, "is the head of my beloved John."
The clever footman started the gramophone, and Lady Queenie began to dance. The lance-corporal walked round her, surveying her at all angles, watching her like a tiger, imitating movements, suggesting movements, sketching14 emotions with his arm, raising himself at intervals15 on the toes of his thick boots. After a few moments Concepcion glanced at G.J., conveying to him a passionate16, adoring admiration17 of Queen's talent.
G.J., startled by her brightened eyes so suddenly full of temperament18, nodded to please her. But the fact was that he saw naught19 to admire in the beautiful and brazen20 amateur's performance. He wondered that she could not have discovered something more original than to follow the footsteps of Maud Allan in a scene which years ago had become stale. He wondered that, at any rate, Concepcion should not perceive the poor, pretentious21 quality of the girlish exhibition. And as he looked at the mincing22 Dialin he pictured the lance-corporal helping23 to serve a gun. And as he looked at the youthful, lithe24 Queenie posturing25 in the shower-bath of rays amid the blazing chromatic26 fantasy of the room, and his nostrils27 twitched28 to her pungent29 perfume, he pictured the reverberating30 shell-factory on the Clyde where girls had their scalps torn off by unappeasable machinery31, and the filling-factory where five thousand girls stripped themselves naked in order to lessen32 the danger of being blown to bits.... After a climax33 of capering34 Queen fell full length on her stomach upon the carpet, her soft chin accurately35 adjusted to the edge of the plate. The music ceased. The gramophone gnashed on the disc until the footman lifted its fang36.
Miss I-forget-your-name raised both her feet from the floor, stuck her legs out in a straight, slanting37 line, and condescendingly clapped. Then, seeing that Queen was worrying the piece of bread-and-butter with her teeth, she exclaimed in agitation38:
"Ow my!"
Mr. Dialin assisted the breathless Queen to rise, and they went off into a corner and he talked to her in low tones. Soon he looked at his wrist-watch and caught the summoning eye of Miss I-forget-your-name.
"But it's pretty all right, isn't it?" said Queen.
"Oh, yes! Oh, yes!" he soothed39 her with an expert's casualness. "Naturally, you want to work it up. You fell beautifully. Now you go and see Crevelli—he's the man."
"I shall get him to come here. What's his address?"
"I don't know. He's just moved. But you'll see it in the April number of The Dancing Times."
As the footman was about to escort Mr. Dialin and his urgent lady downstairs Queen ordered:
"Bring me up a whisky-and-soda."
"It's splendid, Queen," said Concepcion enthusiastically when the two were alone with G.J.
"I'm so glad you think so, darling. How are you, darling?" She kissed the older woman affectionately, fondly, on the lips, and then gave G.J. a challenging glance.
The secretarial Miss Robinson, carrying a note-book, appeared like magic from the inner room.
"Get me the April number of The Dancing News."
"Times," G.J. corrected.
"Well, Times. It's all the same. And write to Mr. Opson and say that we really must have proper dressing-room accommodation. It's most important."
"Yes, your ladyship. Your ladyship has the sub-committee as to entrance arrangements for the public at half-past six."
"I shan't go. Telephone to them. I've got quite enough to do without that. I'm utterly41 exhausted42. Don't forget about The Dancing Times and to write to Mr. Opson."
"Yes, your ladyship."
"G.J.," said Queen after Robin had gone, "you are a pig if you don't go on that sub-committee as to entrance arrangements. You know what the Albert Hall is. They'll make a horrible mess of it, and it's just the sort of thing you can do better than anybody."
"Yes. But a pig I am," answered G.J. firmly. Then he added: "I'll tell you how you might have avoided all these complications."
"How?"
"By having no pageant and simply going round collecting subscriptions43. Nobody would have refused you. And there'd have been no expenses to come off the total."
Lady Queenie put her lips together.
"Has he been behaving in this style to you, Con?"
"A little—now and then," said Concepcion.
Later, when the chaise-longue and Queen's shoes had been replaced, and the tea-things and the head of John the Baptist taken away, and all the lights extinguished save one over the mantelpiece, and Lady Queenie had nearly finished the whisky-and-soda, and nothing remained of the rehearsal44 except the safety-pin between Lady Queenie's knees, G.J. was still waiting for her to bethink herself of the Hospitals subject upon which he had called by special request and appointment to see her. He took oath not to mention it first. Shortly afterwards, stiff in his resolution, he departed.
In three minutes he was in the smoking-room of his club, warming himself at a fine, old, huge, wasteful45 grate, in which burned such a coal fire as could not have been seen in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russia, nor anywhere on the continent of Europe. The war had as yet changed nothing in the impregnable club, unless it was that ordinary matches had recently been substituted [202] for the giant matches on which the club had hitherto prided itself. The hour lay neglected midway between tea and dinner, and there were only two other members in the vast room—solitaries, each before his own grand fire.
G.J. took up The Times, which his duties had prevented him from reading at large in the morning. He wandered with a sense of ease among its multifarious pages, and, in full leisure, brought his information up to date concerning the state of the war and of the country. Air-raids by Zeppelins were frequent, and some authorities talked magniloquently about the "defence of London." Hundreds of people had paid immense sums for pictures and objects of art at the Red Cross Sale at Christie's, one of the most successful social events of the year. The House of Commons was inquisitive46 about Mesopotamia as a whole, and one British Army was still trying to relieve another British Army besieged47 in Kut. German submarine successes were obviously disquieting48. The supply of beer was reduced. There were to be forty principal aristocratic dancers in the Pageant of Terpsichore. The Chancellor49 of the Exchequer50 had budgeted for five hundred millions, and was very proud. The best people were at once proud and scared of the new income tax at 5s. in the £. They expressed the fear that such a tax would kill income or send it to America. The theatrical51 profession was quite sure that the amusements tax would involve utter ruin for the theatrical profession, and the match trade was quite sure that the match tax would put an end to matches, and some unnamed modest individuals had apparently decided52 that the travel tax must and forthwith would be dropped. The story of the evacuation of Gallipoli had grown old and tedious. Cranks were still vainly trying to prove to the blunt John Bullishness of the Prime Minister that the Daylight Saving Bill was not a piece of mere53 freak legislation. The whole of the West End and all the inhabitants of country houses in Britain had discovered a new deity54 in Australia and spent all their spare time and lungs in asserting that all other deities55 were false and futile56; his earthly name was Hughes. Jan Smuts was fighting in the primeval forests of East Africa. The Germans were discussing their war aims; and on the Verdun front they had reached Mort Homme in the usual way, that was, according to the London Press, by sacrificing more men than any place could possibly be worth; still, they had reached Mort Homme. And though our losses and the French losses were everywhere—one might assert, so to speak—negligible, nevertheless the steadfast57 band of thinkers and fact-facers who held a monopoly of true patriotism58 were extremely anxious to extend the Military Service Act, so as to rope into the Army every fit male in the island except themselves.
The pages of The Times grew semi-transparent, and G.J. descried59 Concepcion moving mysteriously in a mist behind them. Only then did he begin effectively to realise her experiences and her achievement and her ordeal60 on the distant, romantic Clyde. He said to himself: "I could never have stood what she has stood." She was a terrific woman; but because she was such a mixture of the mad-heroic and the silly-foolish, he [204] rather condescended61 to her. She lacked what he was sure he possessed62, and what he prized beyond everything—poise. And had she truly had a nervous breakdown63, or was that fancy? Did she truly despair of herself as a ruined woman, doubly ruined, or was she acting64 a part, as much in order to impress herself as in order to impress others? He thought the country and particularly its Press, was somewhat like Concepcion as a complex. He condescended to Queenie also, not bitterly, but with sardonic65 pity. There she was, unalterable by any war, instinctively66 and ruthlessly working out her soul and her destiny. The country was somewhat like Queenie too. But, of course, comparison between Queenie and Concepcion was absurd. He had had to defend himself to Concepcion. And had he not defended himself?
True, he had begun perhaps too slowly to work for the war; however, he had begun. What else could he have done beyond what he had done? Become a special constable67? Grotesque68. He simply could not see himself as a special constable, and if the country could not employ him more usefully than in standing69 on guard over an electricity works or a railway bridge in the middle of the night, the country deserved to lose his services. Become a volunteer? Even more grotesque. Was he, a man turned fifty, to dress up and fall flat on the ground at the word of some fantastic jackanapes, or stare into vacancy70 while some inspecting general examined his person as though it were a tailor's mannikin? He had tried several times to get into a Government department which would utilise his brains, but without success. And [205] the club hummed with the unimaginable stories related by disappointed and dignified71 middle-aged72 men whose too eager patriotism had been rendered ridiculous by the vicious foolery of Government departments. No! He had some work to do and he was doing it. People were looking to him for decision, for sagacity, for initiative; he supplied these things. His work might grow even beyond his expectations; but if it did not he should not worry. He felt that, unfatigued, he could and would contribute to the mass of the national resolution in the latter and more racking half of the war.
Morally, he was profiting by the war. Nay73, more, in a deep sense he was enjoying it. The immensity of it, the terror of it, the idiocy74 of it, the splendour of it, its unique grandeur75 as an illustration of human nature, thrilled the spectator in him. He had little fear for the result. The nations had measured themselves; the factors of the equation were known. Britain conceivably might not win, but she could never lose. And he did not accept the singular theory that unless she won this war another war would necessarily follow. He had, in spite of all, a pretty good opinion of mankind, and would not exaggerate its capacity for lunatic madness. The worst was over when Paris was definitely saved. Suffering would sink and die like a fire. Privations were paid for day by day in the cash of fortitude76. Taxes would always be met. A whole generation, including himself, would rapidly vanish and the next would stand in its place. And at worst, the path of evolution was unchangeably appointed. A harsh, callous77 philosophy. Perhaps.
What impressed him, and possibly intimidated78 him beyond anything else whatever, was the onset79 of the next generation. He thought of Queenie, of Mr. Dialin, of Miss I-forget-your-name, of Lieutenant80 Molder. How unconsciously sure of themselves and arrogant81 in their years! How strong! How unapprehensive! (And yet he had just been taking credit for his own freedom from apprehensiveness82!) They were young—and he was so no longer. Pooh! (A brave "pooh"!) He was wiser than they. He had acquired the supreme83 and subtly enjoyable faculty84, which they had yet painfully to acquire, of nice, sure, discriminating85, all-weighing judgment86 ... Concepcion had divested87 herself of youth. And Christine, since he knew her, had never had any youthfulness save the physical. There were only these two.
Said a voice behind him:
"You dining here to-night?"
"I am."
"Shall we crack a bottle together?" (It was astonishing and deplorable how clichés survived in the best clubs!)
"By all means."
"That Bollinger's all gone at last."
"You were fearing the worst the last time I saw you," said G.J.
"Afraid I can't," said G.J. after a moment's hesitation90. "I shall have to leave early."
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1
relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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3
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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effrontery
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| n.厚颜无耻 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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7
hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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8
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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9
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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13
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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14
sketching
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| n.草图 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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16
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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posturing
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| 做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 ) | |
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chromatic
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| adj.色彩的，颜色的 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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reverberating
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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31
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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32
lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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33
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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capering
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的现在分词 )；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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fang
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| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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39
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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40
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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41
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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43
subscriptions
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| n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助 | |
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44
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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45
wasteful
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| adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的 | |
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46
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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47
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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49
chancellor
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| n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长 | |
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50
exchequer
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| n.财政部；国库 | |
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51
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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52
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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53
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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54
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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56
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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57
steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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58
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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62
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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63
breakdown
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| n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌 | |
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64
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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67
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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68
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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70
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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71
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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72
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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73
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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idiocy
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| n.愚蠢 | |
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75
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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76
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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77
callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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78
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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80
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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81
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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82
apprehensiveness
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| 忧虑感，领悟力 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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84
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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85
discriminating
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| a.有辨别能力的 | |
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86
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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87
divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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88
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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89
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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90
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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