Mr Orgreave hesitated: “You’d better ask your mother.”
“Really, Charlie—” Mrs Orgreave began.
“Oh yes!” Charlie cut her short. “Right you are, Martha!”
The servant, who had stood waiting for a definite command during this brief conflict of wills, glanced interrogatively at Mrs Orgreave and, perceiving no clear prohibition2 in her face, departed with a smile to get the wine. She was a servant of sound prestige, and had the inexpressible privilege of smiling on duty. In her time she had fought lively battles of repartee3 with all the children from Charlie downwards4. Janet humoured Martha, and Martha humoured Mrs Orgreave.
The whole family (save absent Marian) was now gathered in the dining-room, another apartment on whose physiognomy were written in cipher5 the annals of the vivacious6 tribe. Here the curtains were drawn7, and all the interest of the room centred on the large white gleaming table, about which the members stood or sat under the downward radiance of a chandelier. Beyond the circle illuminated8 by the shaded chandelier could be discerned dim forms of furniture and of pictures, with a glint of high light here and there burning on the corner of some gold frame. Mr and Mrs Orgreave sat at either end of the table. Alicia stood by her father, with one arm half round his neck. Tom sat near his mother. Janet and Hilda sat together, flanked by Jimmie and Johnnie, who stood, having pushed chairs away. Charlie and Edwin stood opposite. The table seemed to Edwin to be heaped with food: cold and yet rich remains9 of bird and beast; a large fruit pie, opened; another intact; some puddings; cheese; sandwiches; raw fruit; at Janet’s elbow were cups and saucers and a pot of coffee; a large glass jug10 of lemonade shone near by; plates, glasses, and cutlery were strewn about irregularly. The effect upon Edwin was one of immense and careless prodigality11; it intoxicated12 him; it made him feel that a grand profuseness13 was the finest thing in life. In his own home the supper consisted of cheese, bread, and water, save on Sundays, when cold sausages were generally added, to make a feast. But the idea of the price of living as the Orgreaves lived seriously startled the prudence14 in him. Imagine that expense always persisting, day after day, night after night! There were certainly at least four in the family who bought clothes at Shillitoe’s, and everybody looked elaborately costly15, except Hilda Lessways, who did not flatter the eye. But equally, they all seemed quite unconscious of their costliness16.
“Now, Charlie darling, you must look after Mr Edwin,” said Mrs Orgreave.
“She never calls us darling,” said Johnnie, affecting disgust.
“I do, I often do!” Mrs Orgreave asserted. “Much oftener than you deserve.”
“Oh! I’m all right, thanks,” said Edwin.
“Sit down!” Charlie insisted, using force.
“Do you talk to your poor patients in that tone?” Alicia inquired, from the shelter of her father.
“Here I come down specially19 to see them,” Charlie mused20 aloud, as he twisted the corkscrew into the cork21 of the bottle, unceremoniously handed to him by Martha, “and not only they don’t offer to pay my fares, but they grudge22 me a drop of claret! Plupp!” He grimaced23 as the cork came out. “And my last night, too! Hilda, this is better than coffee, as Saint Paul remarked on a famous occasion. Pass your glass.”
“Charlie!” his mother protested. “I’ll thank you to leave Saint Paul out.”
“Charlie! Your mother will be boxing your ears if you don’t mind,” his father warned him.
“I’ll not have it!” said his mother, shaking her head in a fashion that she imagined to be harsh and forbidding.
Two.
Towards the close of the meal, Mr Orgreave said—
“Well, Edwin, what does your father say about Bradlaugh?”
“He doesn’t say much,” Edwin replied.
“Let me see, does he call himself a Liberal?”
“He calls himself a Liberal,” said Edwin, shifting on his chair. “Yes, he calls himself a Liberal. But I’m afraid he’s a regular old Tory.”
Edwin blushed, laughing, as half the family gave way to more or less violent mirth.
“Father’s a regular old Tory too,” Charlie grinned.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” said Edwin.
“Yes, father’s a regular old Tory,” agreed Mr Orgreave. “Don’t apologise! Don’t apologise! I’m used to these attacks. I’ve been nearly kicked out of my own house once. But some one has to keep the flag flying.”
It was plain that Mr Orgreave enjoyed the unloosing of the hurricane which he had brought about. Mrs Orgreave used to say that he employed that particular tone from a naughty love of mischief24. In a moment all the boys were upon him, except Jimmie, who, out of sheer intellectual snobbery25, as the rest averred26, supported his father. Atheistical27 Bradlaugh had been exciting the British public to disputation for a long time, and the Bradlaugh question happened then to be acute. In that very week the Northampton member had been committed to custody28 for outraging29 Parliament, and released. And it was known that Gladstone meant immediately to bring in a resolution for permitting members to affirm, instead of taking oath by appealing to a God. Than this complication of theology and politics nothing could have been better devised to impassion an electorate30 which had but two genuine interests—theology and politics. The rumour31 of the feverish32 affair had spread to the most isolated33 communities. People talked theology, and people talked politics, who had till then only felt silently on these subjects. In loquacious34 families Bradlaugh caused dissension and division, more real perhaps than apparent, for not all Bradlaugh’s supporters had the courage to avow35 themselves such. It was not easy, at any rate it was not easy in the Five Towns, for a timid man in reply to the question, “Are you in favour of a professed36 Freethinker sitting in the House of Commons?” to reply, “Yes, I am.” There was something shameless in that word ‘professed.’ If the Freethinker had been ashamed of his freethinking, if he had sought to conceal37 it in phrases,—the implication was that the case might not have been so bad. This was what astonished Edwin: the candour with which Bradlaugh’s position was upheld in the dining-room of the Orgreaves. It was as if he were witnessing deeds of wilful38 perilous39 daring.
But the conversation was not confined to Bradlaugh, for Bradlaugh was not a perfect test for separating Liberals and Tories. Nobody in the room, for example, was quite convinced that Mr Orgreave was anti-Bradlaugh. To satisfy their instincts for father-baiting, the boys had to include other topics, such as Ireland and the proposal for Home Rule. As for Mr Orgreave, he could and did always infuriate them by refusing to answer seriously. The fact was that this was his device for maintaining his prestige among the turbulent mob. Dignified40 and brilliantly clever as Osmond Orgreave had the reputation of being in the town, he was somehow outshone in cleverness at home, and he never put the bar of his dignity between himself and his children. Thus he could only keep the upper hand by allowing hints to escape from him of the secret amusement roused in him by the comicality of the spectacle of his filial enemies. He had one great phrase, which he would drawl out at them with the accents of a man who is trying politely to hide his contempt: “You’ll learn better as you get older.”
Three.
Edwin, who said little, thought the relationship between father and sons utterly41 delightful42. He had not conceived that parents and children ever were or could be on such terms.
“Now what do you say, Edwin?” Mr Orgreave asked. “Are you a—Charlie, pass me that bottle.”
Charlie was helping43 himself to another glass of wine. The father, the two elder sons, and Edwin alone had drunk of the wine. Edwin had never tasted wine in his life, and the effect of half a glass on him was very agreeable and strange.
“Oh, dad! I just want a—” Charlie objected, holding the bottle in the air above his glass.
“Charlie,” said his mother, “do you hear your father?”
“Pass me that bottle,” Mr Orgreave repeated.
Charlie obeyed, proclaiming himself a martyr44. Mr Orgreave filled his own glass, emptying the bottle, and began to sip45.
“This will do me more good than you, young man,” he said. Then turning again to Edwin: “Are you a Bradlaugh man?”
And Edwin, uplifted, said: “All I say is—you can’t help what you believe. You can’t make yourself believe anything. And I don’t see why you should, either. There’s no virtue46 in believing.”
“No virtue in believing! Eh, Mr Edwin! Mr Edwin!”
This sad expostulation came from Mrs Orgreave.
“Don’t you see what I mean?” he persisted vivaciously48, reddening. But he could not express himself further.
“Hooray!” repeated Tom.
Mrs Orgreave shook her head, with grieved good-nature.
“You mustn’t take mother too seriously,” said Janet, smiling. “She only puts on that expression to keep worse things from being said. She’s only pretending to be upset. Nothing could upset her, really. She’s past being upset—she’s been through so much—haven’t you, you poor dear?”
In looking at Janet, Edwin caught the eyes of Hilda blazing on him fixedly49. Her head seemed to tremble, and he glanced away. She had added nothing to the discussion. And indeed Janet herself had taken no part in the politics, content merely to advise the combatants upon their demeanour.
“So you’re against me too, Edwin!” Mr Orgreave sighed with mock melancholy50. “Well, this is no place for me.” He rose, lifted Alicia and put her into his arm-chair, and then went towards the door.
“You aren’t going to work, are you, Osmond?” his wife asked, turning her head.
“I am,” said he.
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1
vociferously
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| adv.喊叫地，吵闹地 | |
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2
prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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repartee
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| n.机敏的应答 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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5
cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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6
vivacious
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| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
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7
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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9
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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10
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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prodigality
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| n.浪费，挥霍 | |
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12
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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13
profuseness
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| n.挥霍 | |
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14
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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15
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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16
costliness
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| 昂贵的 | |
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17
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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18
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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20
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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21
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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22
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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23
grimaced
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| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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25
snobbery
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| n. 充绅士气派, 俗不可耐的性格 | |
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26
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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27
atheistical
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| adj.无神论（者）的 | |
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28
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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29
outraging
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的现在分词 ) | |
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30
electorate
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| n.全体选民；选区 | |
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31
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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32
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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33
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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loquacious
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| adj.多嘴的，饶舌的 | |
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35
avow
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| v.承认，公开宣称 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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38
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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40
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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41
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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42
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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43
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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44
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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45
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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46
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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47
sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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48
vivaciously
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| adv.快活地；活泼地；愉快地 | |
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49
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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50
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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51
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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