Lady Matilda Cleckheaton made her entrance into one of the grand recep-tion rooms of the Schloss. It had been a fifteen-mile drive. She had dressedherself with some care, though somewhat to the disapproval1 of Amy. Amyseldom offered advice, but she was so anxious for her principal to succeedin whatever she was undertaking2 that she had ventured this time on amoderate remonstrance3.
‘You don’t think your red dress is really a little worn, if you know what Imean. I mean just beneath the arms, and, well, there are two or three veryshiny patches–’
‘I know, my dear, I know. It is a shabby dress but it is nevertheless aPatou model. It is old but it was enormously expensive. I am not trying tolook rich or extravagant4. I am an impoverished5 member of an aristocraticfamily. Anyone of under fifty, no doubt, would despise me. But my hostessis living and has lived for some years in a part of the world where the richwill be kept waiting for their meal while the hostess will be willing to waitfor a shabby, elderly woman of impeccable descent. Family traditions arethings that one does not lose easily. One absorbs them, even, when onegoes to a new neighbourhood. In my trunk, by the way, you will find afeather boa.’
‘Are you going to put on a feather boa?’
‘Yes, I am. An ostrich6 feather one.’
‘Oh dear, that must be years old.’
‘It is, but I’ve kept it very carefully. You’ll see, Charlotte will recognizewhat it is. She will think one of the best families in England was reducedto wearing her old clothes that she had kept carefully for years. And I’llwear my sealskin coat, too. That’s a little worn, but such a magnificentcoat in its time.’
Thus arrayed, she set forth7. Amy went with her as a well-dressed thoughonly quietly smart attendant.
Matilda Cleckheaton had been prepared for what she saw. A whale, asStafford had told her. A wallowing whale, a hideous8 old woman sitting ina room surrounded with pictures worth a fortune. Rising with some diffi-culty from a throne-like chair which could have figured on a stage repres-enting the palace of some magnificent prince from any age from theMiddle Ages down.
‘Matilda!’
‘Charlotte!’
‘Ah! After all these years. How strange it seems!’
They exchanged words of greeting and pleasure, talking partly in Ger-man and partly in English. Lady Matilda’s German was slightly faulty.
Charlotte spoke9 excellent German, excellent English though with a strongguttural accent, and occasionally English with an American accent. Shewas really, Lady Matilda thought, quite splendidly hideous. For a momentshe felt a fondness almost dating back to the past although, she reflectedthe next moment, Charlotte had been a most detestable girl. Nobody hadreally liked her and she herself had certainly not done so. But there is agreat bond, say what we will, in the memories of old schooldays. WhetherCharlotte had liked her or not she did not know. But Charlotte, she re-membered, had certainly–what used to be called in those days–sucked upto her. She had had visions, possibly, of staying in a ducal castle in Eng-land. Lady Matilda’s father, though of most praiseworthy lineage, hadbeen one of the most impecunious10 of English dukes. His estate had onlybeen held together by the rich wife he had married whom he had treatedwith the utmost courtesy, and who had enjoyed bullying11 him wheneverable to do so. Lady Matilda had been fortunate enough to be his daughterby a second marriage. Her own mother had been extremely agreeable andalso a very successful actress, able to play the part of looking a duchess farmore than any real duchess could do.
They exchanged reminiscences of past days, the tortures they had inflic-ted on some of their instructors12, the fortunate and unfortunate marriagesthat had occurred to some of their schoolmates. Matilda made a few men-tions of certain alliances and families culled13 from the pages of the Alman-ach de Gotha–‘but of course that must have been a terrible marriage forElsa. One of the Bourbons de Parme, was it not? Yes, yes, well, one knowswhat that leads to. Most unfortunate.’
Coffee was brought, delicious coffee, plates of millefeuille pastry14 and de-licious cream cakes.
‘I should not touch any of this,’ cried Lady Matilda. ‘No indeed! My doc-tor, he is most severe. He said that I must adhere strictly15 to the Cure whileI was here. But after all this is a day of holiday, is it not? Of renewal16 ofyouth. That is what interests me so much. My great-nephew who visitedyou not long ago–I forget who brought him here, the Countess–ah, it beganwith a Z, I cannot remember her name.’
‘The Countess Renata Zerkowski–’
‘Ah, that was the name, yes. A very charming young woman, I believe.
And she brought him to visit you. It was most kind of her. He was so im-pressed. Impressed, too, with all your beautiful possessions. Your way ofliving, and indeed, the wonderful things which he had heard about you.
How you have a whole movement of–oh, I do not know how to give theproper term. A Galaxy17 of Youth. Golden, beautiful youth. They flock roundyou. They worship you. What a wonderful life you must live. Not that Icould support such a life. I have to live very quietly. Rheumatoid arthritis18.
And also the financial difficulties. Difficulty in keeping up the familyhouse. Ah well, you know what it is for us in England– our taxationtroubles.’
‘I remember that nephew of yours, yes. He was agreeable, a very agree-able man. The Diplomatic Service, I understand?’
‘Ah yes. But it is–well, you know, I cannot feel that his talents are beingproperly recognized. He does not say much. He does not complain, but hefeels that he is– well, he feels that he has not been appreciated as heshould. The powers that be, those who hold office at present, what arethey?’
‘Canaille!’ said Big Charlotte.
‘Intellectuals with no savoir faire in life. Fifty years ago it would havebeen different,’ said Lady Matilda, ‘but nowadays his promotion19 has beennot advanced as it should. I will even tell you, in confidence, of course,that he has been distrusted. They suspect him, you know, of being in with–what shall I call it?–rebellious, revolutionary tendencies. And yet one mustrealize what the future could hold for a man who could embrace more ad-vanced views.’
‘You mean he is not, then, how do you say it in England, in sympathywith the Establishment, as they call it?’
‘Hush20, hush, we must not say these things. At least I must not,’ said LadyMatilda.
‘You interest me,’ said Charlotte.
Matilda Cleckheaton sighed.
‘Put it down, if you like, to the fondness of an elderly relative. Staffy hasalways been a favourite of mine. He has charm and wit. I think also he hasideas. He envisages21 the future, a future that should differ a good deal fromwhat we have at present. Our country, alas22, is politically in a very badstate. Stafford seems to be very much impressed by things you said to himor showed to him. You’ve done so much for music, I understand. What weneed I cannot but feel is the ideal of the super race.’
‘There should and could be a super race. Adolf Hitler had the right idea,’
said Charlotte. ‘A man of no importance in himself, but he had artistic23 ele-ments in his character. And undoubtedly24 he had the power of leadership.’
‘Ah yes. Leadership, that is what we need.’
‘You had the wrong allies in the last war, my dear. If England and Ger-many now had arrayed themselves side by side, if they had had the sameideals, of youth, strength, two Aryan nations with the right ideals. Thinkwhere your country and mine might have arrived today? Yet perhapseven that is too narrow a view to take. In some ways the communists andthe others have taught us a lesson. Workers of the world unite? But that isto set one’s sights too low. Workers are only our material. It is “Leaders ofthe world unite!” Young men with the gift of leadership, of good blood.
And we must start, not with the middle-aged25 men set in their ways, repeat-ing themselves like a gramophone record that has stuck. We must seekamong the student population, the young men with brave hearts, withgreat ideas, willing to march, willing to be killed but willing also to kill. Tokill without any compunction–because it is certain that without aggress-iveness, without violence, without attack–there can be no victory. I mustshow you something–’
With somewhat of a struggle she succeeded in rising to her feet. LadyMatilda followed suit, underlining a little her difficulty, which was notquite as much as she was making out.
‘It was in May 1940,’ said Charlotte, ‘when Hitler Youth went on to itssecond stage. When Himmler obtained from Hitler a charter. The charterof the famous SS. It was formed for the destruction of the eastern peoples,the slaves, the appointed slaves of the world. It would make room for theGerman master race. The SS executive instrument came into being.’ Hervoice dropped a little. It held for a moment a kind of religious awe27.
Lady Matilda nearly crossed herself by mistake.
‘The Order of the Death’s Head,’ said Big Charlotte.
She walked slowly and painfully down the room and pointed26 to whereon the wall hung, framed in gilt28 and surmounted29 with a skull30, the Order ofthe Death’s Head.
‘See, it is my most cherished possession. It hangs here on my wall. Mygolden youth band, when they come here, salute31 it. And in our archives inthe castle here are folios of its chronicles. Some of them are only readingfor strong stomachs, but one must learn to accept these things. The deathsin gas chambers32, the torture cells, the trials at Nuremberg speak venom-ously of all those things. But it was a great tradition. Strength throughpain. They were trained young, the boys, so that they should not falter33 orturn back or suffer from any kind of softness. Even Lenin, preaching hisMarxist doctrine34, declared “Away with softness!” It was one of his firstrules for creating a perfect State. But we were too narrow. We wished toconfine our great dream only to the German master race. But there areother races. They too can attain35 master-hood through suffering and viol-ence and through the considered practice of anarchy36. We must pull down,pull down all the soft institutions. Pull down the more humiliating formsof religion. There is a religion of strength, the old religion of the Vikingpeople. And we have a leader, young as yet, gaining in power every day.
What did some great man say? Give me the tools and I will do the job.
Something like that. Our leader has already the tools. He will have moretools. He will have the planes, the bombs, the means of chemical warfare37.
He will have the men to fight. He will have the transport. He will haveshipping and oil. He will have what one might call the Aladdin’s creationof genie38. You rub the lamp and the genie appears. It is all in your hands.
The means of production, the means of wealth and our young leader, aleader by birth as well as by character. He has all this.’
She wheezed39 and coughed.
‘Let me help you.’
Lady Matilda supported her back to her seat. Charlotte gasped40 a little asshe sat down.
‘It’s sad to be old, but I shall last long enough. Long enough to see the tri-umph of a new world, a new creation. That is what you want for yournephew. I will see to it. Power in his own country, that is what he wants, isit not? You would be ready to encourage the spearhead there?’
‘I had influence once. But now–’ Lady Matilda shook her head sadly. ‘Allthat is gone.’
‘It will come again, dear,’ said her friend. ‘You were right to come to me.
I have a certain influence.’
‘It is a great cause,’ said Lady Matilda. She sighed and murmured, ‘TheYoung Siegfried.’
IV
‘I hope you enjoyed meeting your old friend,’ said Amy as they drove backto the Gasthaus.
‘If you could have heard all the nonsense I talked, you wouldn’t believeit,’ said Lady Matilda Cleckheaton.
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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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ostrich
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| n.鸵鸟 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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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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impecunious
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| adj.不名一文的，贫穷的 | |
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bullying
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| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
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instructors
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| 指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 ) | |
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culled
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| v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pastry
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| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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galaxy
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| n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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arthritis
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| n.关节炎 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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envisages
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| 想像，设想( envisage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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middle-aged
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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falter
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| vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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genie
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| n.妖怪，神怪 | |
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wheezed
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| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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