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from us。〃
〃I missed a footer practice；〃 said Lancelot
〃Six；〃 said Comus briefly； picking up his cane。
〃I didn't see the notice on the board；〃 hazarded Lancelot as a
forlorn hope。
〃We are always pleased to listen to excuses； and our charge is two
extra cuts。 That will be eight。 Get over。〃
And Comus indicated the chair that stood in sinister isolation in
the middle of the room。 Never had an article of furniture seemed
more hateful in Lancelot's eyes。 Comus could well remember the
time when a chair stuck in the middle of a room had seemed to him
the most horrible of manufactured things。
〃Lend me a piece of chalk；〃 he said to his brother prefect。
Lancelot ruefully recognised the truth of the chalk…line story。
Comus drew the desired line with an anxious exactitude which he
would have scorned to apply to a diagram of Euclid or a map of the
Russo…Persian frontier。
〃Bend a little more forward；〃 he said to the victim； 〃and much
tighter。 Don't trouble to look pleasant； because I can't see your
face anyway。 It may sound unorthodox to say so； but this is going
to hurt you much more than it will hurt me。〃
There was a carefully measured pause； and then Lancelot was made
vividly aware of what a good cane can be made to do in really
efficient hands。 At the second cut he projected himself hurriedly
off the chair。
〃Now I've lost count；〃 said Comus； 〃we shall have to begin all over
again。 Kindly get back into the same position。 If you get down
again before I've finished Rutley will hold you over and you'll get
a dozen。〃
Lancelot got back on to the chair； and was re…arranged to the taste
of his executioner。 He stayed there somehow or other while Comus
made eight accurate and agonisingly effective shots at the chalk
line。
〃By the way；〃 he said to his gasping and gulping victim when the
infliction was over； 〃you said Chetrof； didn't you？ I believe I've
been asked to be kind to you。 As a beginning you can clean out my
study this afternoon。 Be awfully careful how you dust the old
china。 If you break any don't come and tell me but just go and
drown yourself somewhere； it will save you from a worse fate。〃
〃I don't know where your study is；〃 said Lancelot between his
chokes。
〃You'd better find it or I shall have to beat you； really hard this
time。 Here； you'd better keep this chalk in your pocket； it's sure
to come in handy later on。 Don't stop to thank me for all I've
done； it only embarrasses me。〃
As Comus hadn't got a study Lancelot spent a feverish half…hour in
looking for it； incidentally missing another footer practice。
〃Everything is very jolly here；〃 wrote Lancelot to his sister
Emmeline。 〃The prefects can give you an awful hot time if they
like； but most of them are rather decent。 Some are Beasts。
Bassington is a prefect though only a junior one。 He is the Limit
as Beasts go。 At least I think so。〃
Schoolboy reticence went no further； but Emmeline filled in the
gaps for herself with the lavish splendour of feminine imagination。
Francesca's bridge went crashing into the abyss。
CHAPTER III
ON the evening of a certain November day； two years after the
events heretofore chronicled； Francesca Bassington steered her way
through the crowd that filled the rooms of her friend Serena
Golackly； bestowing nods of vague recognition as she went； but with
eyes that were obviously intent on focussing one particular figure。
Parliament had pulled its energies together for an Autumn Session；
and both political Parties were fairly well represented in the
throng。 Serena had a harmless way of inviting a number of more or
less public men and women to her house； and hoping that if you left
them together long enough they would constitute a SALON。 In
pursuance of the same instinct she planted the flower borders at
her week…end cottage retreat in Surrey with a large mixture of
bulbs； and called the result a Dutch garden。 Unfortunately； though
you may bring brilliant talkers into your home； you cannot always
make them talk brilliantly； or even talk at all； what is worse you
cannot restrict the output of those starling…voiced dullards who
seem to have； on all subjects； so much to say that was well worth
leaving unsaid。 One group that Francesca passed was discussing a
Spanish painter； who was forty…three； and had painted thousands of
square yards of canvas in his time； but of whom no one in London
had heard till a few months ago； now the starling…voices seemed
determined that one should hear of very little else。 Three women
knew how his name was pronounced； another always felt that she must
go into a forest and pray whenever she saw his pictures； another
had noticed that there were always pomegranates in his later
compositions； and a man with an indefensible collar knew what the
pomegranates 〃meant。〃 〃What I think so splendid about him；〃 said a
stout lady in a loud challenging voice； 〃is the way he defies all
the conventions of art while retaining all that the conventions
stand for。〃 〃Ah； but have you noticed … 〃 put in the man with the
atrocious collar； and Francesca pushed desperately on； wondering
dimly as she went； what people found so unsupportable in the
affliction of deafness。 Her progress was impeded for a moment by a
couple engaged in earnest and voluble discussion of some
smouldering question of the day； a thin spectacled young man with
the receding forehead that so often denotes advanced opinions； was
talking to a spectacled young woman with a similar type of
forehead； and exceedingly untidy hair。 It was her ambition in life
to be taken for a Russian girl…student； and she had spent weeks of
patient research in trying to find out exactly where you put the
tea…leaves in a samovar。 She had once been introduced to a young
Jewess from Odessa； who had died of pneumonia the following week；
the experience； slight as it was； constituted the spectacled young
lady an authority on all things Russian in the eyes of her
immediate set。
〃Talk is helpful； talk is needful；〃 the young man was saying； 〃but
what we have got to do is to lift the subject out of the furrow of
indisciplined talk and place it on the threshing…floor of practical
discussion。〃
The young woman took advantage of the rhetorical full…stop to dash
in with the remark which was already marshalled on the tip of her
tongue。
〃In emancipating the serfs of poverty we must be careful to avoid
the mistakes which Russian bureaucracy stumbled into when
liberating the serfs of the soil。〃
She paused in her turn for the sake of declamatory effect； but
recovered her breath quickly enough to start afresh on level terms
with the young man； who had jumped into the stride of his next
sentence。
〃They got off to a good start that time；〃 said Francesca to
herself； 〃I suppose it's the Prevention of Destitution they're
hammering at。 What on earth would become of these dear good people
if anyone started a crusade for the prevention of mediocrity？〃
Midway through one of the smaller rooms； still questing for an
elusive presence； she caught sight of someone that she knew； and
the shadow of a frown passed across her face。 The object of her
faintly signalled displeasure was Courtenay Youghal； a political
spur…winner who seemed absurdly youthful to a generation that had
never heard of Pitt。 It was Youghal's ambition … or perhaps his
hobby … to infuse into the greyness of modern political life some
of the colour of Disraelian dandyism； tempered with the correctness
of Anglo…Saxon taste； and supplemented by the flashes of wit that
were inherent from the Celtic strain in him。 His success was only
a half…measure。 The public missed in him that touch of blatancy
which it looks for in its rising public men； the decorative
smoothness of his chestnut…golden hair； and the lively sparkle of
his epigrams were counted to him for good； but the restrained
sumptuousness of his waistcoats and cravats were as wasted efforts。
If he had habitually smoked cigarettes in a pink coral mouthpiece；
or worn spats of Mackenzie tartan； the great heart of the voting…
man； and the gush of the paragraph…makers might have been
unreservedly his。 The art of public life consists to a great
extent of knowing exactly where to stop and going a bit further。
It was not Youghal's lack of political sagacity that had brought
the momentary look of disapproval into Francesca's face。 The fact
was that Comus； who had left off being a schoolboy and was now a
social problem； had lately enrolled himself among the young
politician's associates and admirers； and as the boy knew and cared
nothing about politics； and merely copied Youghal's waistcoats；
and； less successfully； his conversation； Francesca f